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The  City  of  the  Anti-Christ 

BABYLON  IN  CHALDEA 


RICHARD  HAYES  McCARTNEY 

Author  of  *'The  Imperiar\  *' Reign  of  the   Prince  of  Peace' 
''The  Anti-ChrisV\  ''An  Unclean  SpiriV\  "Songs  in  the 
Watting'',  "The  Whip  of  God' \  "Gallipoli",  etc. 


»     B^     »      »        »• 


Published  by 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

Chicago  and  New  York 


Copyright  in  1917,  by 
Frances  Sweetman  Hayes  McCartney  Morse 


TO 

MARY    SPURGIN, 

THE  MOTHER  OF  MY  WIFE 


O  Lover  of  wee  Buds  and  Blossoms  gay. 
Oft  grieved  to  see  the  Shadow  of  Decay 
Creeping   across    the   Glories   in    thine    hand — 
Lo,  Thou,  with  Faith's  expectancy  can  stand 
Waiting,  and  watching  for  the  Coming  King — 
When  Earth's  waste  places  shall  their  blossoms  fling 
An  avalanche  of  Glories  to  thy  sight — 
Then,  Thou,  can'st  revel  in  a  great  delight 
Seeing  Perfection  on  each  hud,  and  bloom — 
New  wondrous  buds  of  exquisite  perfume. 


So  fell  on  sleep — Lo,  there  had  opened  eyes 
To  that  ONE  Splendor  of  fair  Paradise, 
Had  touched  The  Hand  where  yet  the  nail-prints  be — 
Looked  in  HIS  Face  Thou  didst  so  wish  to  see; 
Now   happy  beyond  words  that   thought   can  say — 
Now  patient  waiting  for  that  Blessed  Day 
When  with  New  Body  clothed  Thou  shalt  see 
The  Renewed  Earth  like  rapturous  Melody. 


370614 


Editorial  from  The  Chicago  Journal,  February  13,  1918. 

COTTON  FROM  MESOPOTAMIA 

The  British  army  in  Mesopotamia  is  supplying  itself  with 
nearly  everything  but  clothing  and  munitions  by  the  simple 
process  of  irrigating  the  land  which  the  Turks  have  left 
desert  for  centuries.  British  engineers  and  native  workmen 
have  put  a  barrage — not  of  shells,  but  of  earth  and  willow 
mats — across  the  Tigris,  raised  the  water  level,  cleared  out 
the  ancient  canals  or  dug  new  ones,  and  turned  the  vitalizing 
current  on  the  desolate,  thirsty  acres.  As  a  result,  the  natives 
are  enjoying  greater  prosperity  than  at  any  time  for  the  last 
400  years,  and  the  British  army  at  Bagdad  is  provided  with 
cereals,  vegetables  and  largely  with  meat  without  drawing 
on  a  single  precious  ton  of  the  world's  too  scanty  shipping. 

It  is  a  magnificent  achievement,  and  one  likely  to  have  im- 
portant and  far-reaching  consequences.  To  hand  back  this 
newly  created  garden  for  the  Turks  to  turn  into  a  desert 
again  is  manifestly  impossible.  Mesopotamia  must  remain 
imder  British  or  interallied  control,  that  its  peoples  may  be 
protected  and  its  resources  developed.  But  this  means  that  our 
southern  states  had  better  have  a  care,  or  they  will  lose 
their  present  monopoly  of  the  world's  chief  clothing  material. 

Lower  Mesopotamia  is  one  of  the  finest  cotton  growing 
regions  in  the  world.  It  is  particularly  well-fitted  for  grow- 
ing the  long  staple  Egyptian  cotton,  which  brings  a  much 
higher  price  than  the  ordinary  American  variety.  Egypt  has 
been  developed  till  it  produces  from  1,200,000  to  1,500,000 
bales  of  this  fibre  per  year,  but  Mesopotamia  is  several  times 
as  large  as  Egypt,  and  fully  as  fertile.  Lack  of  capital,  lack 
of  labor,  lack  of  transportation  all  will  conspire  to  make  the 
cotton  development  of  the  country  slow,  but  with  stable  and 
honest  government,  all  these  difficulties  will  be  overcome  at 
last,  and  the  south  will  have  a  competitor  who  can  really 
compete. 


A  FOREWORD. 

"Ho!  to  the  Land  shadowing  with  wings,  which  is  beyond 
the  rivers  of  Ethiopia,  that  sendeth  ambassadors  by  the  sea 
even  in  vessels  which  drink  up  water,  saying.  Go,  ye  swift 
messengers,  to  a  Nation  dragged  away  and  peeled,  to  a 
people  terrible  from  their  beginning  onward,  a  nation  meteth 
and  trodden  down  whose  land  the  rivers  have  despoiled. 
All  ye  inhabitants  of  the  World,  and  ye  dwellers  on  the 
Earth,  when  an  ensign  is  lifted  up  on  the  mountains,  see 
ye;  and  when  the   Trumpet  is  blown,  hear  ye." 

Are  the  words  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah  about  to  be  ful- 
filled? 

O  England,  England  is  it  thine 

To  lay  foundation  for  design. 

Jehovah  hath  for  Israel's  Race — 

To  bring  back  part  to  Ancient  place! 

Near  twenty  years  have  passed  since  this  volume  under 
the  title  of  "The  Lady  of  Nations,"  was  written  and  printed. 
In  that  short  span  of  years  how  has  the  world  moved — and 
how  has  the  world  been  in  reality  "turned  upside  down." 
Events  have  crowded  on  Events;  horrors  on  horribleness; 
blood  shed  as  if  no  better  than  ditch-water;  men  driven  like 
dumb  cattle  to  slaughter;  ruins  piled  on  ruins  until  it  is 
almost  too  common  to  bother  about;  towns  and  cathedrals 
shot  to  pieces;  women  raped;  children  butchered;  all  rights 
of  humanity  trampled  underfoot;  women  too  horror-stricken 
to  weep  over  their  dead;  children  bereft  of  fathers,  mothers 
— of  kith  and  kin;  debts  piled  upon  debts  for  war  munitions 
— until  the  only  hope  seems,  Repudiation! 

And  men  who  had  already  forsaken  God — ^now  cry  out: 


THE  CffTY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

"God  hath  forsaken  this  world!"  We  see  the  deluded  Paci- 
fists who  cried  out  four  years  ago,  "Peace,  we  shall  not  have 
war  any  more!"  We  see  these  Despisers  of  Jehovah's  Book 
— ^with  their  lying,  foolish  tongues — stand  confused — ^their 
fool  dreams,  blatant,  are  confounded — we  see  Morley,  the 
High  Priest  of  The  Cult  who  could  do  without  God — retire 
in  a  melancholy  protest  against  war  that  shattered  the  shal- 
low frothiness  of  a  man  whom,  alas,  England  delighted  to 
honor. 

Thy  Gods  are  stricken — and  have  died! 
Lo,  all  thy  Oracles  have  lied! 
And  thou  most  surely  was  bereft 
Without  one  hope  of  comfort  left. 

O  thou  proud  Soul!  now  as  alone. 
With  all  thine  Idols  overthrown. 
Thy  Gods,  who  were  to  thee  delight, 
Evanish  in  a  hideous  night. 

Poor  Soul — ^that  standest  now  apart 
A  lonesomeness  within  thine  heart. 
Not  one  of  all  thy  Loves  to  be 
A  solace  in  thy  misery. 

For  thou,  with  such  a  sublime  rage, 
Blotted  The  Christ  from  every  page, 
And  printed  God  with  little  "g" 
To  show  thine  animosity. 

In  the  night  of  warrings  we  again  hear  the  False  Prophets 
cry  aloud:  "Peace  Comes!  A  Universal  Peace  by  Force!  — 
(a  pretty  Peace  indeed  when  made  by  Force).  We  have 
Deniers  of  Christ's  Divinity — ^like  Taft;  Starr  Jordan;  the 
blatant  and  false  prophet,  Bryan;  and  a  host  of  lesser  fel- 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

lows,  crying  out  in  this  Country  their  vaporings— men  who 
will  not  read  The  Utterance  of  the  Eternal— will  pay  no  heed 
to  the  Determined  Council  of  Jehovah.  We  have  a  host  of 
so-called  Ministers  of  God  filling  the  many  pulpits  of  this 
broad  land,  every  one  more  "stout  than  his  fellows"  to  deny 
Divine  Inspiration  of  the  Word;  Rob  Christ  of  His  Deity; 
sneer  at  his  miraculous  birth;  trample  under  foot  His  Blood 
of  Atonement;  deny  His  Bodily  Resurrection.  Babble  of 
The  Fatherhood  of  God  of  all  human  creatures.  Civic 
Righteousness  and  all  such  catch  words,  ideas  that  are 
right  if  the  Christ  accepted  as  the  only  hope  of  salvation 
—but  ideas  woefully  out  of  harmony  if  the  fundamentals 
of  Christ  denied— learn  first  of  Christ  and  then  Civic  Right- 
eousness will  be  in  hearts  of  all  men  without  the  eternal  harp- 
ing on  it. 

Yet  out  of  all  the  darkness,  out  of  the  cries  of  distress 
and  anguish  of  the  world — ^behold,  the  dawnings  of  a  better 
day — the  near  approaching  of  the  Feet  of  Him  who  shall 
bring  in  The  Golden  Peace  to  all  the  Nations  of  the  Earth. 

Lo,  the  newspapers  of  to-day  have  strange  headings,  and 
old  Biblical  names  flashed  over  the  wires,  places  are  again 
heard  of  that  had  slumbered  now  near  two  thousand  years. 
Gath,  Askelon,  Sinai,  Hebron,  Beersheba — and  now  the  glad 
news  flashed  over  the  wires — 

"Jerusalem  Occupied  by  the  British!*' 

Thank  God!  that  the  misrule  of  the  Turk  is  over. 

"Ariel— The  Lion  of  God!"  "Salem!  the  City  of  David!" 
"The  City  of  The  Great  King!"  whose  future  name  is  to  be, 
"Jehovah-Shammah!     (Jehovah  is  There!") 

This  news  whispereth  that  Jehovah  is  stretching  out  His 
hand  to  bless  The  Land  He  loveth.  "A  Land  which  The 
Lord  thy  God  careth  for.  The  eyes  of  The  Lord  Thy  God 
are  always  upon  it  from  the  Beginning  of  the  year  even  to 
the  end  of  the  year."    Is  it  not  strange  that  the  Land  de- 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

scribed  by  Josephus — as  a  well  watered  garden  with  abun- 
dant crops — filled  with  people — should  have  so  suddenly- 
changed  to  sterility — ^never  yielding  to  the  Foemen  the  fruit- 
fulness  of  former  years.  To  be  sure,  all  lands  cursed  under 
Turkish  rule;  but  the  land  has  not  "yielded  its  increase" 
since  The  Jews  were  driven  out;  so  barren  a  land,  and 
almost  desolate  had  it  become,  that  Voltaire  and  other  infi- 
dels, laughing,  said,  "This  Jehovah  had  small  conceptions 
giving  such  a  small  present  to  His  People,  Israel!"  And 
some  blatantly  denied  that  it  ever  was  a  Land  flowing  "with 
milk  and  honey,  and  full  of  water  springs." 

As  usual,  the  Fools  did  not  read  Jehovah's  unconditional 
promise  to  Israel — The  Grant  of  Land,  never  yet  possessed 
in  its  entirety  by  the  Jews,  and  never  received,  stretching 
from  the  River  of  Egypt  to  the  River  Euphrates,  thereby 
taking  in  a  stretch  of  Mesopotamia,  the  richest  soil  in  the 
world,  and  running  South  with  boundaries  that  take  in  all 
of  Arabia — for  the  additional  promise  given  E*en  ever  the 
People  entered  Canaan,  "I  have  given  thee  for  a  possession 
wherever  thy  foot  has  trodden."  This  a  vast  Empire.  And 
Voltaire  and  others  forgot  to  read,  that  if  Israel  forsook 
Him,  He  would  shake  them  out  of  The  Land — and  withdraw 
its  fruitfulness  while  they  were  scattered  among  the  Na- 
tions. 

It  is  strange  that  within  the  last  twenty-five  years  a  re- 
markable change  of  climatic  condition  has  again  brought  on 
His  Land  "the  early  and  the  latter  rains."  Surely,  Jehovah 
will  soon  have  pity  on  His  Land,  He  is  moving  on  the 
troubled  waters  of  the  world,  and  we  can  almost  hear  the 
whisper:    "0  My  People,  I  come  quickly." 

And  again  He  whispers  to  His  Church  to  search  The 
Prophecies  in  the  Old  Testament  in  regard  to  that  City 
and  that  Land — and  also  to  the  Land  that  He  has  set  His 
Face  against  to  finally  Destroy  with  an  everlasting  Destruc- 
tion,   He  has  not  either  Forgotten,  nor  Forgiven  her  ancient 

iv 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Sin!  Her  Sin  that  for  Four  Millenniums  has  been  a  blight, 
a  curse  over  all  the  world.  He  is  preparing  the  way  for 
The  Assyrian,  who  again  in  Babylon  will  set  up  the  stan- 
dard of  Defiance  against  Jehovah  and  His  Son — ^both  The 
Assyrian,  and  His  City,  with  all  its  abominations  of  Com- 
mercial and  Religious  Depravities,  shall  be  smitten  with  de- 
struction OAWvhelming  and  Eternal. 

Then  surSfy  a  study  of  the  prophecies  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment in  regard  to  that  Person,  and  that  City,  is  well  worthy 
the  most  careful  attention  of  all  Believers  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Out  of  this  present  war  will  come  the  Revival  of  the 
Mesopotamian  country  and  also  the  bringing  back  of  a  por- 
tion of  Israel  to  add  their  contribution  to  the  wickedness 
of  the  closing  Days  of  Gentile  Power. 

Under  the  benign  shadow  of  England  these  lands  would 
quickly  be  renovated  and  made  a  "garden  of  God"  once 
more. 

England,  this  little  island  who  has  paled  the  glory  of  all 
Nations,  where  colonization  is  contrasted.  She  stands  the 
greatest  of  all  in  blessing  the  places  where  she  floats  her 
little  bit  of  red.  Compared  to  her  as  a  colonizing  Power — 
Rome  failed — Portugal — Spain — Netherland — aye,  Germany 
failed! 

Think  you  it  is  by  accident,  a  freak  of  fortunate  cir- 
cumstances has  made  England  Mistress  of  the  Seven  Seas, 
has  planted  her  flag  "around  the  world,"  so  that  the  sun 
never  sets  on  her  or  on  her  Children's  Dominion.  Nay,  it 
has  been  that  in  spite  of  all  her  sins  and  follies  (and  surely 
many  like  the  opium  war  on  China)  she  has  proven,  if  at 
first  a  rough  Father — ever  after  that,  a  mother  of  compas- 
sion, a  minister  of  justice  to  the  noble  and  the  pauper,  to 
bound  and  free  alike — and  why,  because  in  her  oft  stupid, 
blundering,  inconsistent  manner  she  has  ever  carried  the 
Pages  of  Jehovah's  Message  to  Humanity. 

And  now  her  armies  have  half  conquered  Mesopotamia  and 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Palestine,  be  her  methods  but  grasping,  greed,  or  in  com- 
mercial defense  of  her  Jewel,  India — whatever  be  her  ultra 
desires — and  tho  we  know  it  is  not  to  redeem  these  lands 
from  a  Biblical  point  of  view — ^we  feel  assured  that  Jehovah 
is  making  Her  His  Instrument  in  carrying  out  His  will,  and 
His  long  ago  determined  purpose  towards  these  Lands — ^the 
Center  of  the  World. 

England  has  spoken — Palestine  for  the  Jew! ' 

England  has  coveted  Mesopotamia  as  the  land  wherewith 
to  hold  the  key  which  will  lock  out  other  nations  from  rob- 
bing her  of  her  Jewel — India.  But  while  we  heartily  re- 
joice at  the  defeat  of  the  Turk — and  the  Salvation  as  it  were 
of  Jerusalem — we  must  sorrowfully  remember  that  this  is 
not  the  final  deliverance  of  The  City  and  the  land  from  the 
hands  of  the  Enemy. 

This  British  occupation,  if  successful,  will  make  England 
the  nominal  ruler  of  more  Followers  of  Mohammed  than 
any  one  ruler  in  the  entire  world.  The  two  most  sacred 
places  to  Mohammedans,  Mecca  and  Medina,  are  now  under 
the  protection  of  England — ^next  to  them  come  Bagdad  and 
Jerusalem — ^with  50,000,000  under  British,  in  allied  or  trib- 
utary States,  England  must  not  offend  them  by  encroaching 
on  their  religious  liberty.  The  English  have  ever  been  past 
Masters  in  Latitudinarianism  in  dealing  with  non-Christian 
Races.  She  is  not  the  Mother,  but  she  is  the  Patronizer  of 
many  Heathen  Religions — from  a  worldly  point  of  view  that 
may  be  even  hand  of  justice — ^but  in  the  paying  of  salaries 
to  non-Christian  Priests  she  surely  has  been  Committing  a 
National  Sin. 

Hence,  if  the  Jews  return  in  part,  and  they  will  only  in 
part  at  first,  there  will  be  restrictions  from  demands  of  the 
Polyglot  Religions  who  shall  insist  on  still  retaining  the 
so-called  but  fraudulent  Holy  Spots — ^that  will  be  very  gall- 
ing to  the  Jews.  And  this,  no  doubt,  may  exasperate  the 
Orthodox — ^while  the  Reformed  Jews,  with  a  Gallio  indif- 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

ference,  with  smile,  will  be  a  "big  Brother"  among  religious 
ones  whom  they  will  in  heart  sneer  at  and  despise.  But  the 
coming  return  of  part  of  the  Jews  will  not  be  the  same  as 
the  Final  Return  as  recorded  in  The  Word  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  by  the  mouth  of  Jewish  Prophets. 

In  our  happiness  to  see  the  Freedom  of  The  Land  and 
People  we  must  not  close  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  there  is 
yet  to  come,  "The  time  of  Jacob's  trouble."  They  will  re- 
turn, some,  "that  say  in  pride  and  in  stoutness  of  heart, 
The  bricks  are  fallen,  but  we  will  build  with  hewn  stone; 
the  sycamores  art  cut  down,  but  we  will  put  cedars  in  their 
place,"  .  .  .  "their  land  is  full  of  silver  and  gold,  neither 
is  there  any  end  of  their  treasures;  their  land  also  is  full 
of  horses;  neither  is  there  any  end  of  their  chariots." 

A  Jewish  Temple  will  be  built — and  surely  a  splendor 
equal  to  that  of  Herod's,  the  daily  sacrifice  will  be  inaug- 
urated. The  Land  will  be  filled  with  Cities,  with  all  mod- 
em improvements,  an  era  of  Prosperity  as  never  such  shall 
be  inaugurated — ^but  yet — slowly,  but  surely,  shall  come 
The  Sinister  Shadow  over  them  of  that  Terrible  Being  of 
numerous  names,  such  as  The  Anti-Christ,  The  Beast  of  Em- 
pire, the  King  of  Assyria  and  Babylon — and  under  his  rule 
— and  of  those  dark  days  it  is  prophesied:  "Ask  ye  now 
and  see  whether  a  man  doth  travail  with  child?  Wherefore, 
do  I  see  every  man  with  his  hands  on  his  loins,  as  a  woman 
in  travail,  and  all  faces  are  turned  into  paleness?  Alas, 
for  that  day  is  great,  so  that  none  is  like  it:  It  is  even  the 
time  of  Jacob's  trouble." 

And  now  let  us  read  as  to  how  The  Lord  regards  this 
returned  people:  "Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God:  Be- 
cause ye  are  all  become  dross,  behold,  therefore,  I  will 
gather  you  into  the  midst  of  Jerusalem. 

"As  they  gather  silver,  and  brass,  and  iron,  and  lead,  and 
tin,  will  I  gather  you  in  mine  anger  and  in  my  fury,  and  I 
will  leave  you  there,  and  melt  you. 

vii 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

'Tea,  I  will  gather  you,  and  blow  upon  you  in  the  fire 
of  my  wrath,  and  ye  shall  be  melted  in  the  midst  thereof. 

"As  Silver  is  melted  in  the  midst  of  the  furnace,  so  shall 
ye  be  melted  in  the  midst  thereof;  and  ye  shall  know  that 
I  the  Lord  have  poured  out  my  fury  upon  you. 

"And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  in  all  the  land,  saith  The 
Lord,  two  parts  therein  shall  be  cut  off  and  die;  but  the 
third  shall  be  left  therein. 

"And  I  will  bring  the  third  part  through  the  fire,  and 
will  refine  them  as  silver  is  refined,  and  will  try  them  as 
gold  is  tried:  they  shall  call  on  my  name,  and  I  will  hear 
them:  I  will  say,  it  is  my  people:  and  they  shall  say,  The 
Lord  is  my  Gk)d." 

The  time  of  Jacob's  trouble,  but  Jehovah  Christ  Himself 
shall  be  the  Deliverer — and  the  only  Deliverer,  "Behold,  a 
day  of  Jehovah  ....  For  I  will  gather  all  Nations  against 
Jerusalem  to  battle;  and  the  City  shall  be  taken,  and  the 
houses  rifled,  and  the  women  ravished;  and  half  of  the  City 
shall  go  unto  Captivity;  and  the  residue  of  the  people  shall 
not  be  cut  off  from  the  City.  Then  shall  Jehovah  go  forth 
and  fight  against  those  Nations.  And  His  Feet  shall  stand 
in  that  day  upon  the  mount  of  Olives  which  is  before  Jeru- 
salem on  the  East,  and  the  Mount  of  Olives  shall  be  cleft 
in  twain  in  the  midst  thereof  towards  the  East  and  towards 
the  West,  and  there  shall  be  a  very  great  valley;  and  half 
of  the  mountain  shall  remove  towards  the  North  and  half 
of  it  towards  the  South." 

(The  Words  of  the  two  angels  may  be  remembered  in  this 
connection,  on  Mount  Olivet,  the  last  spot  on  Earth  where 
the  feet  of  our  Lord  stood  before  he  ascended  to  heaven.) 
To  the  Disciples  were  the  words:  "This  same  Jesus  who 
was  received  up  from  you  unto  heaven  shall  so  come  in  like 
manner  as  ye  beheld  Him  going  unto  Heaven" — so  Olivet 
the  last  place  to  hold  Hi^  blessed  feet — and  Olivet  the  first 
place  where  His  Returning  feet  shall  stand,  when  He  comes 
to  save  His  People  Israel  from  all  their  Enemies. 

viii 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

"But  the  multitude  of  thy  foes  shall  be  like  small  dust, 
and  the  multitude  of  the  terrible  ones  as  chaff  that  passeth 
away:  yea,  it  shall  be  an  instant  suddenly.  She  shall  be 
visited  of  Jehovah  of  hosts  with  thunder,  and  with  earth- 
quake, and  great  noise,  with  whirlwind  and  tempest,  and 
the  flame  of  a  devouring  fire.  And  the  multitude  of  all  the 
nations  that  fight  against  Ariel,  even  all  that  fight  against 
her  and  her  stronghold,  and  that  distress  her,  shall  be  as  a 
dream  of  the  night." 

"I  will  place  Salvation  in  Zion  for  Israel  My  Glory." 

And  then  The  Final  Return  of  all  the  Jews,  from  every 
quarter  of  the  globe  and  islands  of  the  sea. 

"And  the  Ransomed  of  The  Lord  Shall  return  and  come 
to  Zion  with  songs  and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads; 
they  shall  obtain  joy  and  gladness  and  sorrow  and  sighing 

shall  flee  away Thy  People  also   shall  be  all 

Righteous:  they  shall  inherit  The  Land  Forever,  the  branch 
of  My  planting,  the  work  of  My  hands,  that  I  may  be  glori- 
fied. All  that  see  them  shall  acknowledge  them,  that  they 
are  The  Seed  that  Jehovah  hath  Blessed."  , 

"I,  Jehovah,  will  hasten  it  in  His  time." 

Probably  one-fourth  of  the  land  surface  of  this,  our 
Earth,  is  not  inhabited  for  the  want  of  water — ^but  a  large 
area  of  the  richest  land  in  the  world  produces  a  very  lim- 
ited crop,  and  has  few  inhabitants — simply  because  it  is 
ofttimes  cursed  by  too  much  Water.  Mesopotamia,  rather 
a  narrow  strip  of  land,  in  length  near  a  thousand  miles,  has 
two  of  the  most  noble  rivers  in  the  world  (and  owing  to 
the  cursed  rule  of  the  Turk)  as  they  roll  on  from  the  Moun- 
tains of  Armenia  to  the  Persian  Gulf  flood  the  country  be- 
cause of  the  ruin  of  canals — overflowing  their  banks,  mak- 
ing marshes  of  land  that  if  cultivated  could  feed,  and  give 
dwelling  places,  to  many,  many  millions — ^millions  who  now 
have  not  always  enough  to  eat — and  dwell  in  places  they 
call  home,  which  are  no  better  than  cattlesheds. 


THE  CITY  or  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

Somewhere  in  this  once  garden  spot  of  the  world  is,  no 
doubt,  the  former  site  where  Adam  and  Eve  first  beheld 
the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  a  Recreated  Earth.  Here  after 
the  Flood  the  Standard  of  Rebellion  was  raised  against 
Jehovah.  Here  under  Satanic  deception,  arousing  of  curios- 
ity— a  world  was  ruined — and  here  under  the  tutelage  of 
Satan  was  given  to  humanity  a  system  of  worship,  which 
has,  in  various  forms,  prevailed  over  the  greater  number 
of  nations  and  humanity  to  this  very  day.  When  Jehovah 
confounded  the  one  language  of  humanity — ^and  scattered 
them  abroad  over  the  face  of  the  Earth — the  peoples  in  their 
meanderings  carried  with  them  —  Idolatry!  And  we  are 
told,  "the  Gentiles  worshipped  Devils,"  for  behind  this  Idol 
worship  is  Demon  worship,  of  many  and  various  kinds.  Here 
has  always  been  the  desire  of  Satan — ^this  the  scene  of  his 
second  triumph  over  Jehovah.  When  the  Jews  as  a  nation 
were  almost  a  mass  of  Idolators  and  Jehovah  set  them  aside 
from  being  His  Earthly  Representatives  there  was  set  up 
the  First  Empire  which  gained  world-wide  dominion.  For 
it  is  written  in  "The  Scriptures  of  Truth"  of  Nebuchadnez- 
zar: "Thou,  0  King,  art  the  King  of  Kings,  unto  whom  The 
God  of  Heaven  hath  given  the  kingdom,  the  power,  the 
strength  and  the  glory;  and  wheresoever  the  children  of 
men  dwell,  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the  birds  of  heavens 
hath  He  given  unto  thy  hand  and  hath  made  thee  to  rule  over 
them  all."    And  so  commenced  the  days  of  the  Gentiles. 

We  read  in  Daniel,  fourth  chapter,  Nebuchadnezzar  made 
a  proclamation,  "unto  all  the  peoples,  nations  and  languages, 
that  dwell  in  all  the  earth."  Now  we  are  fully  convinced 
that  when  The  Hyper-Critics,  who  with  aid  of  Satanic  power, 
are  at  present  destroying  the  Belief  of  all  the  Protestant 
Churches  in  The  Book — ^that  when  their  work  is  finished,  and 
each  fool  scholar  pats  the  other  fool  scholar  on  the  back, 
with,  "Our  work  well  done — and  more  especially  have  we 
destroyed  all  faith  in  that  so-called  Book  of  Daniel!"    At 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

that  day  shall  come  to  light  That  Proclamation,  probably 
now  unread  amid  the  tablets  brought  from  the  East,  from 
the  Royal  Library  of  Babylon — for  not  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt  that  tablet  is  yet,  either  in  Babylon,  or  in  the  safe- 
keeping of  some  University,  either  in  United  States,  or  in 
Europe.  Providence  has  not  been  over  kind  in  confounding 
these  Hyper-Critics  who  when  they  loudly  bray,  "This  pas- 
sage wildly  amiss,  no  such  has  been,  is  not,  nor  ever  will 
be,"  Lo,  a  turn  of  a  spade  in  some  deserted  place  in  the 
East — and  a  confirmation  of  The  Scripture — ^but  instead  of 
acknowledging  their  brazen  lie,  they  pass  over  the  evidence 
to  a  discreet  silence.  Of  this  land — Babylonia  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar— some  2,360  years  ago — Herodotus  writes: 

"The  City  of  Babylon  is  an  exact  square,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  furlongs  (about  fourteen  miles)  in  length  each  way, 
so  that  the  entire  circuit  is  four  hundred  and  eighty  fur- 
longs, or  an  area  of  nearly  200  square  miles.  While  such  is 
its  size  in  magnificence  that  no  other  city  approaches  it.  A 
wall  fifty  cubits  in  width  and  two  hundred  high.  In  the 
circuit  of  the  walls  are  a  hundred  gates,  all  of  brass,  with 
brazen  lintels  and  side  posts.  The  City  is  divided  by  the 
Euphrates  a  broad,  deep  swift  stream.  The  houses  are 
mostly  three  and  four  stories  high;  the  streets  all  run  in 
straight  lines,  not  only  those  parallel  to  the  river,  but  also 
cross  streets  that  run  down  to  the  River.  The  sacred  pre- 
cinct of  Jupiter  Belus,  a  square  enclosure  two  furlongs  each 
v/ay,  with  gates  of  solid  brass.  In  the  middle  a  tower  of 
solid  masonry  a  furlong  in  length  and  breadth,  upon  which 
was  raised  a  second  tower,  and  on  that  a  third,  and  so  on 
up  to  eight.  On  the  topmost  tower  there  is  a  spacious  temple, 
inside  the  temple  stands  a  couch  of  unusual  size,  richly 
adorned,  with  a  golden  table  by  the  side.  There  is  no  statue 
set  up  in  the  place.  The  chamber  occupied  of  nights  by  a 
single  native  woman,  who  the  priests  of  this  God  affirm  is 
chosen  for  himself  by  the  Deity.     They  also  declare  the 


THE  CffTY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

God  comes  down  in  person  unto  this  Chamber.  Below,  in 
same  precinct  a  second  temple  in  which  a  figure  of  Jupiter, 
all  of  gold.  The  throne  and  table  before  it  of  gold;  in  all, 
the  gold  weighed  eight  hundred  talents.  Semiramis  the 
Queen  raised  certain  embankments,  in  the  plain  near  Baby- 
lon, to  control  the  river,  which  till  then,  used  to  overflow, 
and  flood  the  whole  country  round  about.  The  whole  Baby- 
lonia is,  like  Egypt,  intersected  by  Canals.  Of  all  the 
countries  there  is  none  which  is  so  fruitful  in  grain.  It 
makes  no  pretensions  indeed  of  growing  the  fig,  the  olive, 
the  vine,  but  in  grain  it  is  so  fruitful  as  to  yield  commonly 
two  hundred  fold,  and  when  the  production  is  the  greatest 
three  hundred  fold.  The  blade  of  the  wheat  plant,  and 
barley  plant,  is  often  four  fingers  in  breadth — I  am  not 
ignorant  that  what  I  have  already  written  concerning  the 
fruitfulness  of  Babylonia  must  seem  incredible.  Palm  trees 
grow  in  great  numbers  over  the  whole  flat  country  mostly  of 
the  kind  which  bears  fruit — and  this  fruit  supplies  them 
with  bread,  wine  and  honey. 

"The  Babylonians  have  lately  hit  upon  a  different  plan  to 
save  their  maidens  from  violence,  which  is  to  bring  up  their 
daughters  to  be  courtesans.  The  Babylonians  have  one  most 
shameful  custom.  Every  woman  born  in  the  Country  must 
go  once  in  her  life  and  sit  down  in  the  precinct  of  Venus 
and  there  consort  with  a  stranger;  when  she  has  so  gone 
with  him  she  satisfies  the  Goddess." 

The  last  paragraph  surely  shows  how  truthfully  the  wom- 
an in  Revelation  18  Chapter,  is  truthfully  called,  "Babylon 
the  Great,  The  Mother  of  Harlots!"  It  is  doubtful  before 
Nimrod's  time  if  ever  any  nation  made  Prostitution  an 
adjunct  for  gain  in  the  sacred  chambers  of  their  Temples. 
This  Babylon  did  openly — ^her  temples  houses  of  religious 
prostitution.  We  now  have  however  this  practiced  in  some 
temples  of  the  East,  so  that  to  this  day  the  cult  of  Babylon 
still  held  sacred  by  millions  of  people. 

xii 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Pliny  says,  "that  the  wheat  is  cut  twice,  and  is  after- 
wards good  keep  for  beast." 

The  English  Colonel  Chesney  remarks:  "Although  greatly 
changed  by  the  neglect  of  man  those  portions  of  Mesopo- 
tamia which  are  still  cultivated  as  the  country  about  Hillah 
show,  that  the  region  has  all  the  fertility  ascribed  to  it  by 
Herodotus.  The  time  may  not  be  distant  when  the  date 
groves  of  the  Euphrates  may  be  interspersed  with  flourish- 
ing towns,  surrounded  with  fields  of  finest  wheat,  and  the 
most  productive  plantations  of  indigo,  cotton  and  sugar 
cane." 

Ammianus  called  the  country  a  forest  of  verdure. 

It  is  now  most  interestling  to  read  the  testimony  of  one 
whom  we  may  say,  is  the  most  fitting  one  in  the  world  to 
give  such — ^the  best  posted  man  on  such  a  subject — ^this 
witness  writes  2350  years  after  Herodotus.  The  man  who 
by  Engineer's  skill  in  projecting  the  Assuan  Dam  increased 
the  area  of  cultivation  in  the  Nile  Valley  from  5,000,000  to 
6,000,000  acres by  such  the  general  value  of  land  through- 
out Egypt  was  doubled.  The  cost  of  this  achievement  as 
regards  Capital  Expenditure  was  about  $20,000,000  or  less 
than  $5.00  per  acre. 

This  man,  Sir  William  Willcocks,  K.  C.  M.  G.,  at  a  Meet- 
ing of  The  Royal  Geographical  Society  on  November  15th, 
1909,  read  before  that  celebrated  and  august,  scholarly  Body 
a  paper  from  which  we  quote  freely — ^not  by  any  means  ex- 
hausting the  interesting  information  therein  given: 

"Appointed  by  the  Turkish  Government  to  engage  En- 
gineers and  survey  and  level  the  rivers  and  canals  of  the 
Tigris — Euphrates  delta,  and  devise  projects  for  the  rehabi- 
tation  of  the  country,  I  first  set  myself  the  task  of  mastering 
the  ancient  systems  of  irrigation,  improving  on  them  when 
I  could,  and  adopting  them  when  I  could  find  no  better  sub- 
stitute.   I  started  with  the  Garden  of  Eden 

Garden  succeeds  garden  orchards,  and  date  groves  lie  be- 

adii 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

tween  fields  of  cotton,  and  life,  and  prosperity,  are  before 
us  wherever  the  water  can  reach.  I  do  not  think  it  possible 
to  imagine  anything  more  like  a  practical  paradise  than 
the  Country  near  Anah. 

The  lower  Euphrates  past  Nasrie  and  Suk-es-Shayuk  is 
a  veritable  garden  surrounded  by  water. 

We  have  submitted  to  the  Government  a  project  for  escap- 
ing waters,  the  excess  waters  of  the  Euphrates  down  the  de- 
pression of  the  ancient  Pison.  An  expenditure  of  £350,000 
should  suffice  for  the  work — and  it  should  take  three  years 
to  carry  it  out — I  am  not  under,  and  not  over  the  mark, 
when  I  say,  that  the  cultivated  area  will  be  doubled  and  the 
yield  of  wheat  trebled  along  the  Euphrates  the  day  this 
work  is  completed. 

Surveys  and  levels  are  now  in  hand  for  the  Great  Central 
Canal  of  the  delta  which  will  irrigate  3,000,000  acres  of  the 
best  land  in  Mesopotamia,  and  carry  water  free  of  silt — at 
Beled — in  the  days  to  come  this,  another  canal  will  irrigate 
6,000,000  acres. 

The  works  we  are  proposing  are  drawn  on  sure  and  truth- 
ful lines,  and  the  day  they  are  carried  out — ^the  two  Great 
Kivers  will  hasten  to  respond  and  Babylonia  will  once  again 
see  her  waste  places  becoming  inhabited  and  the  desert  blos- 
soming like  the  rose. 

The  water  of  the  two  rivers  and  Soil  of  the  Country  are 
yellow  in  color.  As  one  approaches  Babylon  we  have  great 
stretches  of  salted  land  interposed  with  bare  plains  and  low 
sand  drifts.  All  the  land  is  capable  of  easy  leveling  and 
reclamation — the  presence  of  15  per  cent  lime  in  the  soil 
renders  reclamation  very  easy — One  is  never  far  away  from 
the  Great  Banks  of  the  old  canals,  and  ruined  ancient  towns. 

In  the  arid  regions  of  the  Earth  the  withdrawal  of  water 
turns  a  garden  to  a  desert  in  a  few  weeks;  its  restoration 
touches  the  country  as  with  a  magician's  hand. 

In  her  long  history  of  many  thousand  of  years  Babylonia 

xiv 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHBIST. 

has  again  and  again  been  submerged,  but  she  has  always 
risen  with  an  energy  and  thoroughness  rivaling  the  very 
completeness  and  suddenness  of  her  fall.  She  has  never  failed 
to  respond  to  those  who  have  striven  to  raise  her.  Again 
it  seems  that  the  time  has  come  for  this  land,  long  wasted 
with  misery,  to  rise  from  the  very  dust  and  take  her  place 
by  the  side  of  her  ancient  rival  of  Egypt. 

The  Rivers  are  at  flood  in  March,  April  and  May,  while 
August  and  September  are  the  months  of  low  supply.,  We 
may  without  the  aid  of  reservoirs  count  on  6,000,000  acres 
of  Winter  crops,  and  3,000,000  of  Summer  crops.  Wc;  shall 
have  wheat,  barley  and  beans  in  Winter,  and  cotton,  indian 
Com  and  rice  in  Summer.  The  Deserts  of  Mesopotamia  are 
not  desolate  like  those  of  Egypt,  but  in  the  Great  Steppes 
capable  of  supporting  millions  of  sheep.  The  date  palra  is  at 
home  everywhere  in  the  Delta,  while  the  Basra  Groves  are 
credited  with  10,000,000  trees.  Dates  and  wheat  are  con- 
sidered as  growing  wild  at  Anah. 

I  have  shown  how  the  country  can  be  protected  from 
floods  and  now  a  beginning  can  be  made  with  the  irrigation 
of  3,000,000  acres  of  land  capable  of  producing  annually 
1,000,000  tons  of  wheat  and  2,000,000  hundred  weights  of 
cotton.  It  now  remains  to  consider  how  to  get  this  product 
to  market — and  how  to  dispose  of  the  million  of  s)ieep  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  cattle  which  the  delta  w^ill  con- 
tain. 

Every  merchantman  and  man  of  business  I  have  talked  with 
in  Bagdad  states,  that  the  backward  state  of  th»;  country 
is  due  in  great  part  that  while  communication  open  by  River 
to  East,  it  is  to  the  West  that  the  whole  produce  of  the 
Country  v/ants  to  flnd  a  way.  What  is  wanted  therefore,  is 
a  cheap  railway  connecting  Bagdad  with  the  Mediterranean 
by  the  shortest  and  cheapest  line  possible.  Such  a  Railway 
would  have  its  outlet  on  the  Mediterranean  near  Tyre  aftd 
Sidon.    These  Centers  of  Commerce  did  not  place  themselves 

XV 


THE  OITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

by  accident  where  we  find  them  today.  They  fulfilled  the 
requirements  of  the  trade  of  V/estern  Asia,  Haifa  and  Beirut 
to  the  immediate  South;  and  North  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  are 
the  modem  representatives  of  these  old  Phoenician  Cities. 
They  are  connected  by  rail  with  Damascus. 

The  Damascus-Bagdad  Railway  will  pass  through  Pal- 
myra, Abu-Kimal,  Hit  and  Bagdad.  At  Hit  we  have  the 
terminus  of  free  navigation  in  the  Euphrates  and  future 
Port  of  the  River.  Suk-es-Shayuk — for  the  area  cultivated 
the  population  is  very  dense  and  the  crops  excellent. 

Total  length'  of  Railway  from  Dam.ascus  to  Bagdad  550 
miles  which  could  be  constructed  for  £2,200,000.  In  addition 
to  the  transport  of  the  Exports  and  Imports  of  Tigris — 
Euphrates  delta,  the  railway  from  Bagdad  to  Damascus 
will  be  the  highway  for  the  merchandise  of  Persia  and  for 
all  the  Moslem  pilgrims  of  Central  Asia  to  the  holy  cities 
of  Islam.  It  will  be  the  shortest  route  possible  between 
East  and  West  and  one  day  be  carrying  the  mails  from  East 
to  West." 

When  to  Jeremiah  The  Holy  Spirit  revealed  the  utter 
destruction  of  Babylon,  "Jeremiah  wrote  in  a  book  all  the 
Evil  that  should  come  upon  Babylon  even  all  the  words  that 
are  written  concerning  Babylon."  (Read  the  50th  and  51st 
chapters  of  Jeremiah)  "and  Jeremiah  said  to  Seriaich,  when 
thou  comest  to  Babylon  then  see  that  thou  readest  all  these 
words  and  say,  0  Jehovah,  Thou  hast  spoken  concerning  this 
place  to  cut  it  off  that  none  shall  dwell  therein,  neither  man 
nor  beast,  but  that  it  shall  be  desolate  forever." 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  this  "Seriaich  went  with  Zede- 
kiah,  the  King  of  Judah,  to  Babylon."  This  scroll  of  Jere- 
miah read  in  Babylon  even  before  Nebuchadnezzar  had,  in  a 
great  measure,  rebuilt  and  beautified  Babylon — ^before  he 
had,  walking  in  his  Royal  Palace  of  Babylon,  gazing  on  its 
massive,  stately  buildings,  and  in  self  laudation  exclaimed: 
"Is  noj;  this  Great  Babylon,  which  I  have  built  for  the  Royal 

xvi 


THE  OITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

dwelling  place,  by  the  might  of  my  power  and  for  the  Glory 
of  My  Majesty!"  And  so  this  Captive  Jew,  Seriaich,  was  not 
afraid  of  This  Imperial  King  in  the  very  meridian  of  his 
splendid  Glory — ^the  entire  known  world  at  his  feet. 

Now  this  same  roll  was  cast  into  the  Euphrates — ^this  river 
is  famous  for  the  silt  it  brings  in  its  journey  to  the  Sea — 
it  has  filled  up  the  once  famous  canals  of  that  City  and 
causes  yearly  inundation  over  the  surrounding  country — 
(which  inundation  is  so  fatal  to  the  British  Army) — and  in- 
deed caused  the  Turks  to  gain  a  brilliant  victory  (aided  by 
starvation)  over  British  Arms.  Who  shall  say,  stranger 
things  have  come  to  pass  in  the  Mystic  East — ^more  lately — 
and  will  more  so  after  the  war — ^that  when  these  Canals  of 
Ancient  Babylon,  preserved  in  a  wonderful  manner,  are 
cleaned  out — this  small  scroll  shall  not  be  discovered. 

We  firmly  believe  that  in  the  recently  discovered  libraries 
of  Babylon  the  latter  day  sneerers,  in  Christian  pulpits  and 
college  chairs,  shall  have  placed  before  their  eyes  the  proc- 
lamations of  Nebuchadnezzar  as  recorded  in  the  Book  of 
Daniel — ^they  will  see  it,  but  so  set  are  such  critics  in  their 
Satanic  pride  that  they  will  fulfill  the  words  of  Holy  Writ 
— you  can  bray  a  fool  (a  higher  critic)  in  a  mortar  and  he 
will  be  yet  a  fool. 

Now  the  Jew  Captive  Seriaich  was  not  afraid  of  the  dis- 
pleasure, nor  hate  of  King,  nor  of  Noble,  nor  of  Priests — 
then,  was  the  Beloved  Disciple,  the  one  who  for  three  years 
almost  daily  looked  in  the  face  of  The  Blessed  One,  Jehovah 
Christ,  whom  he  saw  from  Mount  Olivet  ascend  to  heaven — 
whom  afterwards  he  again  beheld  in  His  Glory:  "One  like 
unto  The  Son  of  Man,  clothed  with  a  garment  down  to  the 
foot,  and  girt  about  the  paps  with  a  golden  girdle.  His  head 
and  his  hairs  were  white  like  wool  as  white  as  snow;  and 
His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire;  and  His  feet  like  unto  fine 
brass,  as  if  they  burned  in  a  furnace;  and  His  voice  as  the 
sound  of  many  waters  .  .  .  and  His  countenance  was  as  the 


THE  CITT  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

sun  shineth  in  his  strength.  And  when  I  saw  Him  I  fell  at 
His  feet  as  dead."  Read  the  Description  of  the  ANCIENT 
OF  DAYS  in  Daniel. 

After  seeing  The  King  of  Glory — John  afraid  of  Nero! 
John  deliberately  changing  the  Angels'  words — Rome,  to 
Babylon!  What  a  blot  on  the  honesty  of  the  man  whom 
Jehovah  Jesus  called  a  Son  of  thunder.  Such  arguments  and 
conclusions  are,  to  say  the  least  cf  them,  rather  unseemly 
and  not  respectful  towards  Jehovah  Jesus,  let  alone  John. 

As  John  was  commanded,  "Write  the  things  which  thou 
hast  seen,  and  the  things  which  are,  and  the  things  which 
shall  be  hereafter."  "And  when  the  seven  thunders  had 
uttered  their  voices  I  was  about  to  write,  and  I  heard  a 
voice  from  heaven  saying  seal  up  those  things  .  .  .  and 
write  them  not." 

So  we  believe  that  John  in  this  revelation  wrote  then  and 
there  about  the  future — as  they  were  unrolled  before  his 
eyes — ^nothing  left  to  his  memory — and  he  would  not  dare 
to  vary  from  the  details  of  the  visions  seen,  nor  fron»words 
spoken. 

We,  therefore,  are  firmly  convinced  that  Chapters  XVII 
and  XVIII  of  the  Book  of  the  Revelations  refer  to  coming 
Events  of  the  Rebuilt  Babylon,  the  City  of  the  Chaldeans, 
in  the  land  of  Shinar — who  with  her  restoration  shall  again 
enwrap  the  hearts  of  men  with  her  magnificence — and  their 
Souls  by  the  subtle  evil  of  the  old,  and  new  vices  of  Idolatry. 
And  we  must  remember  that  to-day  over  half  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  world  have  the  Babylon  veil  over  their  eyes 
hiding  the  light  of  Jehovah,  the  veil  woven  by  the  cunning 
hand  of  Satan  in  Babylon  immediately  after  the  Flood. 

There  is  surely  no  Book  of  Holy  Scriptures  so  much 
twisted  and  contorted  as  this  Book  of  Revelation.  Christian 
men,  saved  by  The  Blood-men,  have  written  on  this  same 
book  in  such  language,  and  with  such  views  so  absurd,  that 
in  spite  of  the  opening  injunction,  "Blessed  is  he  that  Read- 

xviii 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

eth,  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  this  prophecy,  and 
keep  those  things  which  are  written  therein."  People,  real 
Christians,  back  away  from  this  book,  not  more  so  than  if 
the  verse  had  read,  "Cursed  is  he  that  readeth,  etc."  And 
Christian  commentators  have  been  the  real  offenders — ^their 
attempts  at  clearing  up  its  mysteries  have  been  oft  so  silly, 
so  absurd,  so  ridiculous — that  their  tomes  have  done  more 
injury  than  all  the  sneers  of  the  Infidels. 

The  Sin  of  Satan,  we  are  told,  was  pride;  and  not  the 
shaidow  of  a  doubt  but  it  is  this  same  sin — Pride,  that  has 
made  this  Book  as  it  were  a  stumbling  block  to  so  many 
true  followers  of  The  Holy  One.  We  Gentiles  are  so  con- 
vinced of  our  Own  Importance  that  we  will  not  believe  that 
Jehovah  had  ever  a  chosen  people — are  we  not  flesh  and 
blood  like  to  these  Jews? 

Think  you  it  is  possible  that  The  Eternal  One  could,  would 
or  should  hold  one  race — and  that  an  ignoble,  paltry  race — 
above  the  multiplicity  of  Earth's  races!  And  by  this  Satanic 
inspired  pride  we  Gentiles  read  ourselves  in  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  as  The  People — to  the  Jews  the  curses — 
for  they  deserved  them:  To  the  Gentiles,  the  Church,  belong 
all  the  Blessings — long  ago  forfeited  by  The  Jews  for  their 
wickedness.  The  Early  Fathers  of  the  Christian  Church 
robbed  the  Jews,  and  we,  their  Children,  are  more  brazen 
than  even  they  were,  both  in  reiteration,  practice,  and  con- 
victions. Verily  it  was  a  Jew  who  wrote  the  XI  Chapter  in 
Romans — ^and  verses  17,  18,  21  are  particularly  offensive 
to  our  Anglo-Saxon-Russian-Latin-Germanic  and  American 
self-esteem  and  pride!  It  surely  suits  us  well  to  have  our 
scholarly  Christian  Hyper-Critics  pen-knife  The  Book  so  well 
that  scarce  a  ribbon  of  a  page  is  left. 

Yet  this  Book  of  Revelations  is  rather  clear  if  the  Book 
of  Daniel  read  side  by  side — ^the  one  the  key  to  the  other. 
And  if  Christians  in  general  did  not  believe  that  the  Book 
of  Revelation  is  a  history  of  The  Church,  that  the  Gentile 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Church  the  only  Jewel  in  Jehovah's  thoughts — ^we  would  take 
the  Book  as  a  Book  of  FactS;  and  not  a  scheme  of  vivid 
imaginations,  wherein  the  future  facts  recorded  therein  will 
lie  fulfilled  to  the  letter.  The  disposition  of  true,  blood- 
washed  Christians  to  ignore  the  Old  Testament  is  not  of 
God's  teachings — but  a  grievous  error  on  their  part.  We 
have  even  two  Deacons  in  a  Church  proclaiming  itself  thor- 
oughly Evangelical,  saying:  "What  have  we  to  do  with  the 
Old  Testament — we  do  not  read  anything  but  the  New  Testa- 
ment." Now  if  such  sayings  in  the  Elders*  mouth — ^what-will 
be  the  fruits  which  the  Young  People  will  bring  forth? 

We  hold  with  the  learned  Bishop,  "That  a  literal  interpre- 
tation of  the  Divine  Words  comes  nearest  to  the  Divine 
Mind." 

The  momentous  question,  whether  England  or  Germany 
shall  be  the  Renovator  of  Mesopotamia  is  not  yet  settled.  At 
present  writing  the  Armies  of  England  victorious — ^but  none 
can  tell  if  disaster  will  not  yet  change  that  phase  of  the 
situation. 

For  many  years  have  some  celebrated  Englishmen,  who 
had  personally  become  acquainted  with  that  country,  rec- 
ognizing its  surpassing  fruitfulness,  lying  fallow,  pleaded 
with  their  Government  the  importance  of  a  railway  from  the 
Mediterranean  to  the  Persian  Gulf — ^not  only  from  material 
benefits,  but  also  as  a  quick  passage  to  guard  from  Russia 
her  pearl,  India.  In  1831,  Chesney  advocated  "a  Railway 
from  one  of  the  ports  opposite  to  the  Island  of  Cyprus  to 
the  head  waters  of  the  Euphrates,  and  water  transport  down 
that  river  to  Basra  ....  whilst  at  some  later  period  the 
railway  itself  might  be  extended  to  the  Persian  Gulf." 

At  that  time  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  could  only  rely  on 
England  of  all  the  Nations  as  a  support,  and  would  have 
been  glad  to  give  England  the  right  of  way  to  Persian  Gulf. 
Then  came  the  Building  of  Suez  Canal,  which  Bismarck 
termed,  "The  spinal  cord  of  the  British  Empire."    But,  built 

XX 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

by  France,  that  nation  owned  the  largest  portion  of  the 
Bonds,  therefore,  controlled  its  management.  The  Nations 
had  agreed  that  the  Canal  should  only  be  used  for  commer- 
cial purposes.  Russia  had  declared  war  against  Turkey,  had 
defeated  them,  and  their  victorious  army  within  a  hundred 
miles  of  their  long  coveted  prize,  Constantinople.  At  that 
time  there  was  a  Jew,  a  romance  writer,  poor,  whose  am- 
bition led  him  to  be  a  member  of  Parliament — called  a 
dandy,  an  unscrupulous  adventurer,  but  a  far-seeing,  subtle, 
brilliant,  brainy  man  who  by  intellect  and  grit  became  head 
of  the  then  most  Aristocratic  Party  in  the  World,  the  Tories, 
became  Prime  Minister  of  England  (a  position  nearer  to 
being  Dictator  to  the  World  than  any  other  Person  on  the 
Earth).  This  fascinating  Jew  secretly,  suddenly  purchased 
the  Controlling  Interest  in  the  Suez  Canal,  loaded  war  trans- 
ports with  some  of  the  best  fighting  soldiers  of  India,  sent 
them,  in  spite  of  the  Written  Will  of  Nations,  through  the 
Suez  Canal — ^and  checkmated  Victorious  Russia. 

Time  and  time  again  had  Englishmen  advocated  this  Rail- 
way to  India — ^but  the  British,  now  the  mistress  of  the  Seas, 
smugly  content  with  the  Suez  Canal,  fell  asleep — rather,  lis- 
tened to  some  of  her  Statesmen  like  Curzon,  Governor  of 
India,  who  wrote,  "the  scheme  of  a  Euphrates  Valley  Rail- 
way, if  tried,  will  be  found  wanted." 

M.  Cheradame  in  his  fascinating  book  states:  "The  Rulers 
of  Great  Britain  exclusively  guided  by  the  seducing,  but 
entirely  inaccurate  idea,  that  since  they  desired  Peace  there 
would  not  be  War." 

But  while  England  as  usual  dilly-dallied  a  certain  Young 
German  full  of  enthusiasm  who  had  written,  "All  German 
Rivers  should  be  under  German  Control,"  also  "devoted  his 
attention  to  Asia  Minor  and  suggested  that  in  that  country 
Germans  might  find  ample  scope  for  their  energies  .  .  . 
perceived  to  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia  the  attention  of  Eur- 
ope would  be  directed,  ,  .  •  .  some  day  it  would  be  possible 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

to  place  an  iron  arm  across  the  Asiatic  dominion  of  the 
Sultan,  the  shoulder  of  which  would  be  a  United  German 
Empire,  whilst  the  fingers  would  stretch  towards  the  south- 
em  limits  of  Persian  waters  on  the  other." 

This,  written  years  before  there  was  an  Empire  of  Ger- 
many. This  young  German  had  spent  six  years  in  Turkey 
going  there  in  1835.  "His  stay  in  Asia  Minor  led  him  to 
realize  the  immense  importance  of  Asiatic  Turkey  .... 
a  continent  in  itself,  forms  a  natural  bridge  for  the  Nations 
who  penetrate"  from  West  to  East.  Writing  in  1841  he 
suggested,  "that  the  Holy  Land  should  be  placed  under  a 
sovereign  prince  of  the  German  Nation." 

This  young  German,  with  the  eagle  eye  of  clear  vision,  who 
saw  (as  clearly  as  Chesney  in  1831)  the  importance  of  Meso- 
potamia, w^as  no  less  a  personage  than  the  celebrated  Von 
Moltke,  afterwards  Field  Marshal  of  Germany  and  Con- 
queror of  France.  (I  quote  largely  from  a  most  readable 
book,  "The  German  Road  to  the  East,"  by  Evans  Lewin). 
So  William,  The  Greedy,  trained  by  such  a  genius,  took  to 
heart  the  words  of  the  young  German  seer — ^became  Pro- 
tector of  Turkey,  Master  Builder  of  the  Bagdad  Railway: 
the  question  is,  whose  hand,  English  or  German,  shall  reno- 
vate Mesopotamia — and  lay  the  foundation  of  the  New  Baby- 
lon— ^which  Anti-Christ  will  beautify — make  it  The  Great 
Commercial  City  of  the  World. 

We  now  hear  Christians  deploring  by  pen  and  tongue  the 
Blindness  of  the  Jews  in  regard  to  the  Rejection  of  The 
Messiah — and  yet  Christians  are  more  so  blind  as  to  the 
Future  of  the  Jews — Protestant  Christians  claim  an  open 
Bible — yet  they  remain  as  a  body — even  multitudes  of  the 
true  blood-saved  Christians  —  ignoring  the  Old  Testament 
prophecies,  writing  "Fulfilled"  on  page  after  page,  when  if 
they  read  such  carefully,  they  could  see  they  have  not  been 
fulfilled. 

They  read  Isaiah,  13th  and  14th  chapters,  and  Jeremiah, 

xxii 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

SOth  and  51st  chapters,  and  say,  "Literally  Fulfilled,"  which, 
if  such  judgments  there  recorded  fulfilled  the  chapters  (let 
me  say  it  with  meekness)  are  brazenly  untrue.  We  reiterate 
again,  the  destruction  of  ancient  Babylon  was  not  sudden; 
at  that  time  the  Jews  as  a  nation  did  not  go  back  to  Pales- 
tine; that  was  not  the  Restoration  set  forth  by  Isaiah  and 
Jeremiah;  and  there  never  has  been  a  restoration  as  there 
recorded. 

Jehovah  had  not  "opened  His  Armory,  and  hath  (not) 
brought  forth  the  Weapons  of  His  Indignation;  for  The 
Lord,  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  hath  a  work  to  do  in  the  Land  of 
the  Chaldeans."  His  Wrath  of  Destruction  will  be  poured 
out  on  the  Revived  Babylon  as  recorded  in  Revelation  17th 
and  18th  chapters. 

And  it  would  be  well  if  we  were  more  careful  in  asking  in 
every  incident  in  The  Word — "What  Spiritual  lesson  is  there 
in  this  for  us?"  We  have  spiritualized  the  Bible  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  is  a  laughter  to  the  Infidels  and  a  confusion 
to  Believers. 

We  cannot  be  convinced  that  either  The  Church,  nor  the 
Bride,  occupies  as  it  were  so  much  of  the  lime-light  in  Rev- 
elation. 

The  views  held  that  the  four  and  twenty  Elders  represent 
the  Church  in  the  Heavenlies  we  think  is  rather  far-fetched. 
The  Old  Testament  Saints  are  read  out  entirely  of  all  in- 
terest in  such  conception.  Is  it  not  a  better  interpretation 
that  the  Four  and  Twenty  Elders  were  Representative  Be- 
lievers from  Adam  to  the  Death  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Adam,  Enoch,  Abraham,  the  representative  Prophets,  Kings, 
Poets — ^men  who  all  believed  in  a  Coming  Redeemer — a  Job 
who  prophesied  that  he  would  in  resurrected  body  see  His 
Redeemer  on  this  Earth — men  of  whom  we  are  told  by 
Apostle  Peter,  1st  Epistle,  1  Ch.,  10th  verse:  "Of  which 
Salvation  the  Prophets  have  inquired  and  searched  diligently, 
who  prophesied  of  the  grace  that  should  come  unto  you; 

xxiii 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

searching  what,  or  what  manner  of  time  The  Spirit  of 
Christ  which  was  in  them  did  signify,  when  it  testified  be- 
forehand the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  Glory  that  should 
follow."  When  our  Blessed  Lord  had  ascended  to  Heaven, 
the  Eternal  One  was  to  give  a  further  Revelation  as  what 
would  usher  in  The  Glory — He  had  suffered  the  Penalty  of 
Sin,  He  had  fulfilled  the  58rd  of  Isaiah  to  the  letter — and, 
no  doubt,  the  Fathers  asked  when  would  he  fulfill  the  63rd 
of  Isaiah — surely  a  question  that  all  The  Redeemed  who  had 
departed  from  the  Earth  were  vitally  interested  in — it  meant 
so  much  for  them — some  of  them,  aye,  probably  all  of  them 
had  waited  over  Five  Hundred  years — some  of  them  two 
thousand,  some  three  thousand,  some  four  thousand — and  to 
have  Jehovah's  Great  Men  absent  from  His  Council  when  The 
Man-Redeemer  was  to  receive  His  Title  to  .the  Kingdoms  of 
Earth  and  Heavenly  places — ^would  be  Unthinkable!  There- 
fore we  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  Four  and  Twenty  Elders 
were  the  Great  Beacon  Lights  of  Jehovah  amid  the  other- 
wise profound  darkness  over  all  else  of  Humanity — they,  the 
Representative  of  Believers  before  The  Death  of  Christ. 

And  at  the  time  the  Revelation  was  given  to  John,  not 
alone  to  John,  but  to  the  Beings  of  entire  universe — every- 
one of  them  being  interested  in  that  Revelation — an  opening 
up  of  The  Mind  of  The  Trinity,  the  Churches  were  a  com- 
paratively small  body, — some  two  thousand  years  were  to  roll 
away  before  the  "Hereafter"  events  should  occur — ^hence,  to 
put  the  Church  as  the  Elders  is  a  far-fetched  idea — and  as 
John  was  to  make  known  the  Revelation  to  the  Church  what 
necessity  for  the  Church  to  be  at  such  Council? 

Then  when  the  7th  Chapter  relates  the  sealing  of  the 
Tribes  of  Israel — does  it  not  bring  to  mind  that  only  one 
third  of  the  Jewish  population  in  Jerusalem  under  Anti- 
Christ  will  be  saved — two  thirds  shall  perish.  And  when  it 
is  brought  to  mind  that  in  the  Jewish  manner  of  counting, 
only  males  of  age  counted — ^women  and  children  not  counted, 

xxiv 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHBIST, 

SO  that  the  sealing  of  144,000  would,  counting  men,  women 
and  children,  run  up  to  half  a  million  of  souls;  we  see  no 
just  reason  then  to  read  any  other  number  in  the  number 
specified. 

In  Chapter  9th,  we  have  creations  introduced  never  heard 
of  before,  and  scholars  have  straightway  hunted  all  history 
to  give  a  name  and  place;  the  tails  said  to  be,  "the  horse 
tails  worn  by  the  Turks."  Now  why  not  have  common  sense, 
because  earthly  eye  has  not  seen — ^why  should  it  be  said — 
there  is  none,  neither  will  be  such  creatures.  We  know  not 
what  creatures  are  in  the  orbs  of  the  universe.  We  are  not 
skeptical  of  such,  and  we  have  neither  the  common  sense, 
nor  reason,  to  deny  the  awful,  terrible  horsemen  have  ex- 
istence. We  say  the  same  of  the  Four  Living  Creatures — 
we  may  be  foolish — but  we  would  rather  believe  that  such 
creatures  are  in  existence-^-that  Isaiah,  Chapter  6th;  Ezekiel, 
Chapter  1st  (that  the  carved  Cherubim  of  Ezekiel,  41st  Chap- 
ter, 18th  verse,  which  will  beautify  the  Inner  Temple  yet  to 
be  built  do  represent  certain  living  creatures),  that  Kevela- 
tion,  4th  Chapter,  verse  6 — are  actual  creatures — and  no  mys- 
tical body  of  Believers. 

Why  is  the  record  of  Revelation  9th,  beginning  verse  13th, 
treated  as  non-literal.  Here  we  are  presented  with:  "Loose 
the  four  Angels  that  are  bound  at  the  Great  River  Eu- 
phrates!" They  were  evidently  Captains  of  a  mighty  host 
of  Demons,  for  "the  number  of  the  armies  of  the  horsemen 
was  twice  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand:  And  I  heard  the 
number  of  them."  The  Angels  who  are  yet  bound  must 
have  been  very  wicked  before  Jehovah,  for  myriads  of  De- 
mons have  not  been  bound,  and  will  not,  until  The  Coming 
King  arrives.  The  Epistle  of  Jude  gives  the  Key:  "And 
Angels  that  kept  not  their  own  principality,  but  left  their 
proper  habitation,  He  hath  kept  in  everlasting  bonds  under 
darkness  unto  the  Judgment  of  the  Great  Day." 

We  are  rapidly  approaching  the  Age  of  Miracles-— the  two 

XXV 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Witnesses — ^two  men  will  perform  miracles  on  the  Earth — 
their  task  to  show  the  world,  especially  people  in  Palestine, 
that  Jehovah  has  not  left  the  World  to  "its  set  laws."  "The 
Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven"  will,  after  a  silence  of 
two  thousand  years,  again  be  proclaimed,  and  this  time  to 
both  Jew  and  Gentile — at  first  during  our  Lord's  ministry 
only   to   the   Jews — but   after   the   Jewish   Rulers,   *    *    *    * 

Rejection — ^the  cry  has  not  been  heard — The  Gospel  of 
Grace  is  now  proclaimed;  but  as  the  days  of  Coming  King- 
dom draw  near  again  that  Glorious  cry  will  come:  "Repent 
for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand!" 

In  the  same  manner  the  number  stated  in  Chapter  XIV 
is  treated  not  as  actual  but  mystical.  And  why  this  should 
not  be  an  actual  number  is  hard  to  tell.  All  the  Kings  of 
the  Earth  had,  and  have,  special  attendants  to  go  with 
them  wherever  they  go.  Here  it  is  stated  that  The  Lord 
Jesus  stood  on  Mount  Zion  and  with  Him  a  hundred  forty 
and  four  thousand  having  His  Father's  name  written  in  their 
foreheads.  They  were  harpers,  singing  a  new  song,  and  no 
man  could  learn  that  song  but  the  hundred  and  forty-four 
thousand  who  were  redeemed  from  Earth — these  are  they 
which  were  not  defiled  with  women,  for  they  were  as  virgins. 
These  are  they  which  follow  The  Lamb  whithersoever  He 

goeth first  fruits  unto  God  and  to  The  Lamb, 

and  in  their  mouth  was  found  no  guile;  for  they  are  with- 
out fault  before  the  throne  of  God.  Could  the  wording  be 
more  pointed  and  simple — what  great  wonder  if  The  King  of 
Glory  who  is  worshiped  by  Trillions  innumerable,  in  the 
vast  stretches  of  the  Universe,  visiting  His  various  Princi- 
palities should  have  a  Royal  Body  Guard.  If  this  a  mystical 
number — and  the  church — it  is  rather  far-fetched  to  say  the 
Whole  Church  would  ever  be  moving  about  with  Him — ^nay, 
the  members  of  the  Redeemed  are  to  be  Priests  and  Kings 
on  the  earth — and  no  doubt  in  other  places  of  His  Dominions. 

Of  all  the  silly  arguments  brought  forth  by  learned  men, 

xxvi 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

the  most  absurd,  that  of  charging  the  Apostle  John  of  Cow- 
ardice; that,  afraid  of  the  anger  of  Nero,  he  did  not  dare 
to  write  Rome,  so  to  hide  the  identity  of  the  City  wrote 
"Babylon."  It  is  in  this  City  of  Babylon  under  the  tutelage 
of  Satan  himself  that  the  Antichrist,  The  Assyrian,  The  Head 
of  the  Revived  Roman  Empire,  The  Beast — all  names  given 
to  one  man,  who  will  again  establish  a  Religion,  a  worship 
that  will  allure  men — filling  every  desire  of  their  hearts,  a 
system  of  Idolatry  that  in  spite  of  the  terrible  plagues  re- 
corded in  Rev.,  9th  Chapter,  which  Jehovah  poured  out  on 
them,  yet:  "The  rest  of  the  men  which  were  not  killed  by 
these  plagues,  yet  repented  not  of  the  work  of  their  hands, 
that  they  should  not  worship  Devils,  and  idols  of  Gold,  and 
Silver  and  Brass,  and  stone  and  of  wood  which  neither  can 
see,  nor  hear,  nor  walk."  And  the  words  of  the  Prophet 
Isaiah  very  significant  which  speaks  of  a  return  of  part  of 
the  Jews— "Their  land  is  also  full  of  Idols." 

So  that  the  Woman  of  Mystery,  Babylon,  under  the  Lead- 
ership of  Antichrist  will  have  an  established  State  Religion 
of  Satan's  origin — ^which  will  be  gorgeous,  fascinating,  at- 
tractive, its  ministers  arrayed  in  rich  apparel,  purple  and 
scarlet  color,  decked  with  gold  and  precious  stones  and 
pearls — but  even  this  Religion  will  give  place  to  a  worship 
of  Satan  himself. 

Therefore  we  believe  that  the  6th  verse  of  17th  Chapter 
of  Revelation  mentions  two  distinct  sections  of  Jehovah's 
people — this  woman  representing  the  iniquity  of  Babylon  was 
drunk  with  the  Blood  of  Jewish  Saints — ^and  will  in  the  near 
future  be  drunk  with  the  Blood  of  the  Martyrs  of  Jesus. 
The  appellation  of  Saints  is  given  time  and  time  again  in 
Old  Testament  to  Jews. 

It  is  Jehovah  dishonoring  to  say,  that  He  would  not  mean 
what  He  said — when  He  sent  His  Angel  to  reveal  to  John 
the  future,  He  meant  what  He  said — Babylon,  and  not  Rome, 
was  the  City  mentioned. 

xxvii 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHBIST. 

And  what,  were  the  Saintly  Jews  more  noble  in  sustaining 
the  words  of  Jehovah  than  John;  to  Babylon  they  carried 
the  Holy  Scripture — the  writings  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah — 
writings  that  told  of  the  Destruction  of  Babylon — the  Baby- 
lon rebuilt  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  glorified,  the  well  beloved  of 
his  pride — ^thihk  you,  Daniel  was  silent  and  never  referred 
to  Jehovah's  words — Daniel  afraid — Never!  And  was  John 
the  Beloved,  The  Son  of  Thunder,  poorer  in  spirit  than  Dan- 
iel? This  defamation  of  John  is  ridiculous — ^he  was  not 
afraid  of  Nero,  not  more  so  than  the  humblest  Christian  who 
entered  the  arena  to  meet  death's  certainty  by  the  maw  of 
the  wild  beasts. 

And  of  the  18th  Chapter  of  Revelation  we  boldly  say- 
It  is  the  resurrected  Babylon  of  the  Chaldeans  that  is  meant, 
and  not  Rome. 

If  careful  reading  of  Jeremiah  is  given  it  is  very  clear 
to  see  that  the  return  of  the  Jews  recorded  in  Chapters  50 
and  51,  verses  4,  5  and  6  have  not  been  fulfilled  up  to  the 
present  day.  WTien  Babylon  was  taken  by  the  Persians  from 
Belteshazzar  there  was  no  destruction  of  The  City.  And 
at  that  time  the  words:  "Flee  out  of  the  midst  of  Babylon 
and  go  forth  out  of  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans!"  was  evi- 
dently not  intended  for  the  then  living  Jews.  A  great  body 
of  the  Jews  at  the  end  of  the  Seventy  years  did  not  return, 
but  settled  down  in  that  rich  country — and  Babylon  was  not 
destroyed,  the  destruction  did  not  come  suddenly  as  fore- 
told by  the  Prophets,  the  decay  was  very  gradual — and  it 
was  from  this  Babylon  The  Apostle  Peter  sent  forth  his 
celebrated  Epistle.  There  was  never  a  time  even  up  to  the 
present  when  the  words  recorded  in  the  verse  40  were  ful- 
filled, and  as  before  noted  in  first  preface,  the  words  re- 
corded in  Chapter  51 — averse  26,  have  never  been  fulfilled — 
as  the  town  of  Hillah  is  built  almost  entirely  of  bricks  taken 
from  Babylon. 

If  one  claim  that  the  recorded  prophecies  of  Chapters  51 

zxviii 


'     THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHBIST. 

and  52  fulfilled  by  the  present  state  of  Babylon,  then  the 
exaggeration  of  words  has  never  been  surpassed.  False  in 
about  every  particular.  We  therefore  say  boldly,  the  De- 
struction of  Babylon  is  yet  in  the  future — and  the  New 
Babylon  to  be  ruled  by  Antichrist,  described  so  minutely  in 
18th  Chapter,  Revelation,  will  be  destroyed  to  the  letter  and 
every  word  of  Jeremiah  and  John  will  be  literally  fulfilled. 

No  doubt  at  the  Restoration  of  Mesopotamia  the  natural 
bom  traders,  the  Jews,  will  flock  there  in  large  numbers — 
for  Babylon  will  be  the  Golden  City  of  the  world — and  then 
the  cry  of  warning  to  the  Jews  recorded  in  verse  8th  of 
Chapter  51,  Jeremiah,  and  verse  4th  in  Chapter  18  of  Rev- 
elation, will  be  listened  to — for  it  is  one  call  recorded  in  the 
two  verses:  "Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not 
partakers  of  her  sins  and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues 
for  her  sins  have  reached  unto  heaven  and  God  hath  re- 
membered her  iniquities."  For  when  Babylon  is  suddenly 
destroyed  it  will  be  a  token  that  soon  after  our  Blessed  Je- 
hovah's feet  will  again  be  on  Mount  Olivet. 

And  here  may  we  digress  with  a  few  words.  The  Writer 
has  never  fully  believed  that  the  Secret  Rapture  could  be 
proven  from  The  Word,  but  he  has  not  ever  sought  in  writ- 
ings to  disprove  such — feeling  it  was  a  subject  on  which 
Brethren  should  not  quarrel — for  the  Greater  Hope,  that 
the  Redeemer  would  come  in  His  own  good  way  and  own 
good  time.  After  forty  years  of  consideration  he  cannot 
endorse  that  view — ^but  neither  would  he  be  willing  to  rob 
any  brother  in  Christ  of  the  pleasure  of  sucB"  a  constant 
watching.  But  there  is  an  element  of  danger  in  it — ^that 
when  the  time  of  the  Coming — ^the  entering  in  of  the  period 
of  the  last  three  years  and  one-half — if  a  weak  brother 
should  not  have  his  hope  realized  it  would  be  a  terror  to 
him,  as  he  would  not  be  ready  for  Martyrdom  which  more 
than  likely  will  be  the  fate  of  multitudes  of  Gentile  Believers. 

But  to  the  Writer  it  seemeth  the  part  of  a  "slacker,"  a 

xxix 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

coward,  to  wish  to  escape  the  glorious  Fate  —  a  martyrl 
Remember,  that  period  will  he  the  last  time  on  earth  that  any 
man  can  he  a  martyr  for  the  sake  of  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ! 
And  if  one  would  be  so  ill  informed  as  to  pick  out  a  single 
text  and  narrow  it  to  the  given  information  therein  contained, 
taking  the  4th  verse  of  the  20th  Chapter  of  Revelation  it 
would  seem  as  if  only  those  who  were  martyrs  during  the 
reign  of  Antichrist  would  reign  with  Christ  for  the  thousand 
years — ^which  is  not  a  fair  deduction. 

Then  if  only  those  who  are  ready  shall  meet  him,  and  if 
the  readiness  consists  in  looking  for  His  coming — a  vast 
body  of  Believers  would  be  left  behind — another  deduction 
not  borne  out  by  Resurrection  verses. 

Then  we  would  be  forced  to  believe  in  many  periods  of 
Resurrections,  and  we  only  read  of  two  in  The  Word.  And 
so  the  mind  has  its  pros  and  cons — not  convinced  as  to  de- 
tails, but  heart  ever  ready  to  say,  "Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come 
quickly!" 

And  another  point — ^to  us  most  strange  that  anyone  could 
spiritualize  The  City  described  in  Revelation — 21st  Chapter, 
verses  9  to  the  end.  The  City  that  The  Lord  Jesus  within  a 
few  hours  of  his  suffering  in  Gethsemane  (the  place  where 
He  first  took  on  Himself  the  Burden  of  the  Sin  of  The  World 
of  the  entire  Universe),  He  made  that  exceeding  Glorious, 
Precious  Promise:  "For  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you. 
And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you  I  come  again,  and 
will  receive  you  unto  myself;  that  where  I  am,  there  ye 
may  be  also!"  Therefore  they  greatly  would  lead  the  Fol- 
lowers of  Christ  astray  who  would  dare  to  say  that  The 
City  written  of  by  John — ^is  not  an  actual  City — a  City  of 
Gold  and  Precious  Stones.  We  really  have  no  patience  with 
minds  so  spiritual  that  would  darken  the  Word  of  God  to 
make  such  a  City — a  sign,  a  vision  of  Church  perfection! 
If  we  are  to  be  raised  in  a  glorious  body  then  we  must  look 
for  a  material  City  to  dwell  in,  where  The  Lamb  is  the  light 

XXX 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

thereof.  The  mirid  that  will  spiritualize  the  gates  of  pearls; 
the  walls  of  Jasper;  the  foundations — the  first,  Jasper;  the 
second,  sapphire;  the  third.  Chalcedony;  the  fourth,  emerald; 
the  fifth,  sardonyx;  the  sixth,  sardius;  the  seventh,  chryso- 
lite; the  eighth,  beryl;  the  ninth,  topaz;  the  tenth,  chryso- 
prase;  the  eleventh,  jacinth;  the  twelfth,  amethyst;  is  so 
spiritual  as  to  be — ^well,  foolishly  given  to  make  matter  a 
non-existing,  hazy,  mazy  affair,  neither  good  for  man  nor 
angel.  i 

We  are  of  the  opinion,  that  now,  as  we  are  nearing  the 
end  of  the  Gentile  Days  (and  surely  this  present  war  shows 
conclusively  that  Gentiles  cannot  govern  themselves — ^the 
European  Nations  are  fast  showing  their  rule  is  not  a  Eight- 
eous  One,  and  some  of  the  Rulers  worse  than  Wild  Beasts,) 
that  we  shall  have  Teachers  raised  up,  who  will  by  The 
Holy  Spirit's  enlightenment  make  clear  to  the  Followers  of 
Christ  the  mysteries  in  the  Books  of  Eevelation  and  Daniel. 
For  when  Daniel  said:  "0  my  Lord,  what  shall  be  the  issue 
of  these  things?"  The  answer  was:  "Go  thy  way,  Daniel; 
for  the  words  are  shut  up  and  sealed  till  the  time  of  the 
end!"  S 

Therefore  we  are  not  far  off  until  the  end  of  Gentile  Rule — 
and  as  converted  Jews  seem  to  have  a  special  blessedness  in 
opening  up  the  Scriptures — and  all  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments written  by  Jews,  inspired  by  Jehovah — ^what  more 
likely  than  that  the  5th  verse  of  the  4th  Chapter  of  Malachi — 
Christ's  Messenger,  Elijah  the  Prophet,  will  be  the  Mes- 
senger to  make  plain — The  Writings. 

We  hear  strange  voices  crying  in  this  World-Night  of 
Destruction  and  Death  that  surely  portend  of  strange  things 
about  to  come  upon  the  Earth — sounds  of  such  whisperings 
like  evil  winds,  worse  than  that  of  the  hot  blasts  of  the  Si- 
moon. 

Amid  the  voices  we  have  so-called  ministers  of  Christ  who 
tell  us  that  when  the  men  now  in  the  Camps  and  Trenches 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHBIST. 

return  home  that  the  Churches  must  recast  their  creeds  to 
suit  the  views  of  the  Home  Comers:  that  the  Church  (?) 
will  fail  in  her  mission  if  the  Old  Evangelical  Theology  is 
not  emasculated  of  all  the  Doctrines  held  by  the  Church  now 
near  1900  years — and  by  these  those  renegades  mean — ^The 
Inspiration  of  The  Scriptures;  The  Deity  of  Christ;  the  Re- 
demption from  Sin  by  the  Blood  shed  on  the  Cross;  Salvation 
by  Faith  in  a  crucified  and  Risen  Christ.  In  place  of  these 
Jehovah  given  doctrines  we  must  have,  The  Fatherhood  of 
God  of  all  Humanity;  The  Brotherhood  of  Jesus;  Justification 
by  personal  works  and  merits;  No  Retribution  after  this  life 
for  the  sinner — all  the  offspring  of  God,  and  that  God  an 
indulgent  Father;  that  there  is  no  transgression  of  Sin — 
men  commit  no  sin,  simply  faults — ^in  fact,  a  restoration  of 
the  Early  Days,  "when  every  man  did  what  was  right  in 
his  own  eyes" — so  that  he  wrought  for  civic  righteousness. 
As  it  has  ever  been — ^so  as  the  priest  so  are  the  people.  The 
Ministers  speaking  soft  things  and  strange  doctrines,  for 
the  man  in  the  street  "has  itching  ears." 

Then  we  have  in  Camp  and  Trench  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association — doing  humanly  a  gracious  work — ^but 
largely  a  purveyor  to  the  flesh.  We  heartily  endorse  their 
work  in  giving  the  young  men  on  battle  front,  home  comforts, 
home  atmosphere,  home  amusements,  words  of  cheer  and 
fellowship — but  their  speakers  largely  of  men  who  pass  by 
The  Gospel  of  the  Grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — ^we  hear 
too  much  of  The  Gospel  of  Sacrifices:  "You  have  laid  on 
the  altar  of  your  country — your  youth,  your  yoimg  manhood, 
your  earthly  ambition,  and  are  willing  to  sacrifice  even  life 
for  Democracy — therefore,  your  offerings  acceptable  to  God; 
you  therefore  needing  no  mediator;  can  fearlessly  face 
Death  and  a  Happy  Hereafter!"  So  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  have  Speakers,  Clergymen  and  Laymen  at 
the  front,  who  are  eloquent,  devoted,  engaging  in  speech 
and  manners,  Good  Fellows — ^but  when  cursed  by  the  virus 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

of  Higher  Critics'  views  and  aims,  put  in  the  hearts  a  lie — 
and  give  those  brave  young  men  "a  refuge  of  lies" — making 
their  Eternal  Salvation  rest  on  the  grounds,  that  they,  like 
Jesus,  give  their  lives  for  Humanity! 

We  have  voices  in  the  night:  of  a  better  World  after  the 
war:  of  a  New  Discovery  of  God! 

Alas!  we  fear  that  when  the  young  men  return  to  their 
homes — and  see  around,  The  Ruin,  the  Devastation  of  vil- 
lages, towns  and  cities — and  farms;  the  Millions  of  Cripples; 
the  aged  broken  and  bereft;  the  widows,  the  orphans — and 
the  tasks  before  them  to  rebuild,  to  be  doomed  for  years 
with  tears  of  bitterness,  "to  scrape  and  pare"  to  pay  Taxes 
for  interest  on  War  Bonds  which  they,  for  years,  must  stag- 
ger under — then  will  they  not  look  up  to  what  to  them  is  a 
silent  heaven,  without  having  a  Living  Faith  in  a  Crucified 
and  Risen  Saviour — ^will  they  not  cry  out: 

"If  there  is  a  God,  a  God  of  Love,  of  Mercy,  an  Almighty, 
Peace-Loving  God,  why  did  He  not  prevent  this  War,  this 
wrecking  of  prosperity,  of  home,  of  family,  this  fearful 
waste  of  life  not  only  of  the  Aged,  but  the  deflowering  of 
maidens,  the  ravishing  of  Wives — ^murdering  of  Babes,  aye, 
the  Destruction  of  the  very  flower  of  manhood — youths  shot 
to  fragments — all  trampled  in  mud,  and  blood,  and  mire! 
What,  a  God  of  Love  to  allow  all  this!  Nay!  If  there  is 
such  a  God — heedless  of  human  suffering — ^we  will  not  bow 
down  and  worship  such  a  God — away  with  such  from  heart, 
and  mind — and  as  to  this  pale  Christ — we  will  not  have  such 
a  man  to  Reign  over  us!" 

We  hear  of  a  great  Revival  of  Catholicism — ^nay,  not  a 
lasting  Revival — for  even  that,  and  Protestantism,  must  give 
place  to  the  Religion  of  Humanity. 

We  hear  cries  in  the  night — Fearful,  Awful,  Voracious — 
Socialism — ending  in  Anarchy,  with  a  religion  of  blatant, 
blasphemous  Atheism!  Read  the  following,  clipped  from  a 
popular  newspaper,  and  then  ask:  What  can  stem  the  tide  of 

xxxiii 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

blasphemy  which  is  sweeping  over  Germany?  For  in  the 
Morgenpost,  from  the  noted  free  thinker  Schlunsen,  who 
writes: 

"Of  what  use  is  a  debate  on  the  existence  of  the  Deity? 
The  invisible  can  assume  no  earthly  obligation,  can  bear 
no  mortal  burdens.  One  might  as  reasonably  say  that  the 
ether  bore  a  message;  that  there  was  divine  ordination  in 
the  soughing  of  the  night  wind  over  the  battle  field;  that  God 
was  a  mere  road  to  some  desired  end;  that  peace  could  be 
found  only  at  the  termination  of  that  road.  There  is  only 
one  God — ^fear.  There  is  another  God — annihilation.  Expe- 
diency is  the  intercessor  and  completes  the  Trinity.  Ger- 
many's one  hope  lies  in  that  Trinity. 

All  hope  in  invisible  intercession  must  be  put  away.  Fear 
of  the  doom  that  awaits  them  must  be  inspired  in  the  breast 
of  all  who  oppose  Germany.  In  that  lies  her  salvation.  She 
must  trust  in  no  other.  The  struggle  for  unity  would  be  its 
own  coijipensation.  When  that  is  accomplished,  Germany  can 
dispense  her  favors  and  can  defy  her  enemies — and  the  in- 
visible God." 

But  the  Believers  in  The  Blood  Redemption  from  Sin,  be- 
stowed a  free  gift  to  all  wEb  will  accept,  an  imconditional 
Gift,  hearing  such  Demon  Inspired  Voices  of  The  Night  can 
lift  up  their  eyes,  for  the  signs  are  such  as  prophesied  two 
thousand  years  ago  are  being  fulfilled — that  The  Coming 
of  Jehovah  Jesus  is  now  even  at  the  door. 


xxxiv 


PREFACE. 

The  Blood  Bought  and  Blood  Washed  Believers  in  Ottr 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  can  rest  assured  that  all  the 
Prophecies  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  not  yet  fulfilled, 
shall  yet  be  fulfilled  in  the  most  literal  manner,  to  the  most 
minute  detail  as  recorded.  When  a  prophecy  has  been  ful- 
filled we  can  rest  assured  that  the  occurrence  as  predicted 
in  the  Word  has  come  to  pass  in  a  manner  that  leaves  no 
room  for  dispute. 

At  the  first  cpming  of  Our  Lord  to  this  Earth — (The  Mer- 
chantman seeking  Pearls  of  great  price  who  when  he  found 
one  did  give  up  "his  all"  to  purchase  that  PearJ)  His  every 
step,  as  it  were,  from  Cradle  to  Resurrection  was  fulfilling 
prophecies  that  had  been  blazoned  on  Jewish  Sacred  pagea 
many  a  century  before.  His  birthplace — His  Boyhood  and 
early  manhood's  home — His  miracles — His  rejection — His 
scourging — dividing  His  raiments — the  casting  lots  for  His 
vesture — His  infamous  death — His  burial — all  prophecied 
about — and  all  fulfilled  to  the  letter.  Now,  if  hundreds  of 
prophecies  have  been  literally  fulfilled  to  the  jot  and  tittle, 
why  should  we  doubt  the  literal  fulfillment  of  other  predic- 
tions spoken  of  and  recorded  by  the  very  same  Prophets  of 
God? 

It  is  sad  to  think  that  some  of  the  best  and  noblest  Chris- 
tians in  their  endeavor  to  prove  the  destruction  of  Babylon  as 
recorded  in  the  Old  Testament,  in  their  pious  anxiety  to  jus- 
tify the  words  of  God  to  men — in  their  attempt  to  steady  the 
tottering  Ark  of  Jehovah — have  in  a  manner  given  new  life 
to  some  of  the  oldest  heresies  of  the  early  Church.  With 
their  "looseness"  of  interpretation  they  have  given  the  Infidel 
Just  cause  to  laugh  at  such  fulfillment,  and  thereby  to  despise 


THJi:  CiTY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

"this  Book  of  Old  Jewish  Myths'';  aye,  and  in  their  pious 
ignorance  of  the  actual  condition  of  Babylon,  and  the  Chaldean 
plains,  they  have  put  on  record  a  so-called  fulfillment  utterly 
false  in  the  face  of  present  facts.  And  also  from  their  pious 
spiritualizing — this  foolish  helping  out  of  God  from  His  dif- 
ficulties— they  have  given  hirth  to  a  school  of  most  pernicious 
and  God  dishonoring  interpretations  of  The  Blessed  Word — 
Such  Spiritualizing  forces  Honest  Common  Sense  (without 
the  enlightenment  of  the  new  birth)  to  become  a  despiser  of 
a  Book  that  may  mean  this,  or  that,  or  anything  a  fervid 
imagination  may  conceive. 

When  we  read  of  certain  predictions  recorded  against  a 
certain  City — and  details  therein  set  forth  that  were  to  hap- 
pen, why  should  we  take  certain  phases  and  say  "literally 
fulfilled" — and  gloss  over  and  ignore  other  details  which  we 
can  readily  prove  were  not  fulfilled?  The  Words  of  God  are 
to  be  taken  in  the  most  literal  sense  unless  it  can  be  clearly 
seen  the  words  are  uttered  as  a  parable  or  symbol.  The  Words 
of  God  were  spoken  for  the  enlightenment  of  The  Spiritual 
man — the  one  born  to  God  in  second  birth — and  tho'  some 
utterance  now  seem  dark  and  mysterious  we  can  rest  assured 
that  some  day  we  will  see  them  fulfilled  as  predicted. 

When  therefore  God  says  of  Babylon,  the  proud  City  of  the 
Chaldean  plain — the  spot  where  first  organized  opposition 
against  God  took  place  after  the  flood — that: 

1.  "And  Babylon,  the  Glory  of  the  Kingdoms,  the  leauty  of 
the  Chaldees'  excellency,  shall  he  as  when  God  overthrew 
Sodom  and  Oomorrah.'* 

2.  "It  shall  never  he  inhabited" 

3.  "Neither  shall  it  he  dwelt  in  from  generation  to  generation." 

4.  "Neither  shall  the  Arahian  pitch  tent  there." 

5.  "Neither  shall  the  shepherds  make  their  folds  there.^* 

6.  "It  shall  he  no  more  inhahited  forever." 

7.  "No  man  shall  ahide  there." 

8.  "Neither  shall  any  son  of  man  dwell  therein." 

8 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTT-CHEIST. 

9.  "Bahylon  is  suddenly  fallen  and  destroyed." 

10.  "To  make  the  land  of  Babylon  a  desolation  without  an  in- 
hahitant."" 

11.  ''And  they  shall  not  take  of  thee  a  stone  for  a  corner  nor 
a  stone  for  foundations  but  thou  shall  be  desolate  forever, 
saith  the  Lord." 

12.  "Her  cities  are  Desolation,  a  dry  land,  and  a  wilderness, 
a  land  wherein  no  man  dwelleth,  neither  does  any  son  of  man 
pass  thereby." 

After  reading  the  above  verses  from  the  Word  let  us  read 
the  unimpeachable  testimony  of  Professor  D.  V.  Hilprecht,  in 
a  publication  dated  October  6th,  1900:  "Before  Professor 
Hilprecht  left  Babylonia,  he  accepted  a  cordial  invitation  from 
the  German  Expedition  working  at  Kuwairesh,  a  small  Arah 
village  on  the  Euphrates,  beautifully  situated  between  the 
palm  groves  at  the  foot  of  the  ruins  which  cover  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's palace  in  ancient  Babylon."  This  is  a  flat  contradic- 
tion of  the  above  verses  marked  1  to  8  inclusive.  Again  Pro- 
fessor Hilprecht:  "The  expectations  that  interesting  treas- 
ures of  art  would  be  discovered  in  the  interior  of  the  palace 
have  not  been  realized,  the  history  of  Babylon's  Gradual 
Decay  being  unfavorable  to  such  expectations."  Flatly  con- 
tradicting verses  No.  9  and  No.  10 — as  the  decay  was  gradual, 
not  suddenly.  Again  Professor  Hilprecht:  ''According  to  my 
conviction,  based  upon  a  study  of  the  inscriptions  and  re- 
peated visits  to  the  different  groups  representing  what  is  left 
of  Nebuchadnezzar's  splendid  residence,  the  famous  sanctuary 
of  Babylon  must  be  sought  in  the  most  northern  ruin  of  the 
whole  complex  called  today  Babil,  which  for  many  centuries 
has  served  as  the  almost  inexhaustible  quarry  for  public  and 
private  buildings  from  the  embankments  of  the  Tigris  opposite 
Bagdad  to  the  modern  structures  of  the  Hindiya  canal  and  in 
the  town  of  Hilla."  A  flat  contradiction  of  verses  No.  11  and 
No.  12. 

Now,  we  see  no  reason  to  doubt  for  one  instant  the  veracity 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

of  such  writers  as  Captain  Frank  Burnaby,  in  his  ride  through 
Asiatic  Turkey,  and  John  Punnett  Peters  (and  other  well 
known  men)  in  that  interesting  hook  "Nippur."  .Such  reliable 
testimony  flatly  contradicts  the  utter  desolation  of  Babylon 
of  the  land  of  Chaldea  as  recorded  in  God's  Holy  Word.  What, 
then,  as  God  must  be  true — are  we  forced  to  the  conclusion, 
such  men  are  liars? — Is  it  not  the  better  part  of  faith  and 
common  sense  to  come  to  the  one  inevitable  conclusion,  no 
matter  if  whole  Libraries  of  writings  by  Schoolmen  made 
rubbish  by  such  confession — that  God's  Word  cannot  be  false 
and  that  Babylon  of  the  Chaldees  is  yet  to  be  destroyed  as 
God  has  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  His  Holy  Prophets?  For 
no  believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  can  hold  with  the  utterly 
Blasphemous  ideas  now  prevalent  in  the  Broad  Church,  both 
in  England  and  America — and  alas,  in  many,  very  many,  of 
the  so-called  Orthodox  pulpits — that  such  predictions  were 
highly  colored  poetical  fancies — the  glowing  hyperbolical  bril- 
liancy of  the  Oriental  mind. 

We  can  without  a  hesitancy  of  a  doubt  say — If  such  has 
not  been  fulfilled  it  will  most  assuredly  as  God  liveth  be  ful- 
filled in  the  coming  future.  God's  Word  has  never  failed. 
God's  Word  has  never  been  broken.  Then  as  a  certain  definite 
doom  has  been  recorded  by  (xOd  against  Babylon,  and  as  we 
can  readily  prove  by  a  hundred  creditable  witnesses  that 
such  predictions  have  not  been  fulfilled  in  the  fi'rst  destruction 
of  Babylon,  we  can  say  with  unfaltering  trust:  Babylon  of 
the  Chaldees  shall  rise  from  her  ruins,  shall  deck  herself 
in  a  glory  of  Gold  and  Splendor  of  which  we  have  as  yet 
little  conception,  shall  be  the  Commercial  Mart  of  the  then 
newly  risen  Roman  Empire — if  not  the  world — that  one  may 
yet  stand  on  roof  of  one  of  her  palaces,  read  the  18th  chapter 
of  Revelations,  Spread  abroad  his  hands,  and  exclaim:  Every 
word  uttered  two  thousand  years  ago  stands  fulfilled  to  the 
jot  and  tittle. 

It  has  ever  been  the  darling  wish  of  Lucifer  to  be  woi> 

10 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

shiped  as  God — We  know  one-third  of  the  heavenly  host  fol- 
lowed his  standard  of  Rebellion,  and  we  know  that  over 
one-half  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Earth  are  worshiping  him 
by  the  various  forms  of  idolatry.  But  his  most  daring  wish 
is  to  be  worshiped  by  the  most  intelligent  and  enlightened 
nations  of  the  v/orld.  And  as  the  "most  scholarly"  Profess- 
ors in  our  various  Christian  Colleges  and  Universities  are 
now  busily  casting  discredit  on  the  words  of  even  Jehovah 
Christ  himself — notably  in  the  matter  of  Jonah,  the  Prophet, 
for  if  that  record  is  false — so  is  Christ's  resurrection  from 
the  dead.  We  may  safely  say  that  the  product  of  such  teach- 
ing turned  loose  on  the  common  people  will  show  in  the  next 
generation  a  goodly  crop  of  Word  Despisers — and  so  prepar- 
ing the  General  Public  to  be  ready  victims  when  God  will 
withdraw  His  outraged  Grace,  and  permit  the  strong  delusion 
to  settle  on  man's  mind,  so  that  they  will  believe  '*The  LieT 
Lucifer  has  very  ambitious  designs,  and  it  seems  The  Chaldean 
Plains  have  ever  been  in  his  mind  as  the  stage  on  which  his 
infernal  Drama  should  be  revealed.  He  was  once  foiled  at 
Babel  in  this  intent — but  there  is  coming  a  day,  known  only 
to  God,  when  Satan's  designs  shall  blossom  to  a  head.  Babylon 
will  be  the  culminating  point  of  Satanic  Wickedness  on  Earth. 
And  tho'  Professors  sneer,  and  Wise  men  laugh,  at  the  idea — 
"An  impossibility  in  this  enlightened  age" — yet  on  the  plains 
of  Shinar  the  most  enlightened  Nations  of  Europe  (in  the 
bounds  of  the  old  Roman  Empire)  will  by  their  Representa- 
tives Worship  Lucifer  as  God. 

No  matter  if  most  of  the  Preachers  and  Teachers  in  Chris- 
tion-  Churches  today  ignore  and  laugh  to  scorn  the  idea  of 
that  terrible  Being — Antichrist — he  yet  shall  surely  come. 
His  City — the  Royal  City  of  his  pride — shall  be  Babylon. 

The  near  future  is  big  with  mighty  wonders — and  all  set 
forth  in  clear  cut  detail  in  God's  Blessed  Word,  but  ignored, 
glossed  over,  and  disbelieved  in  by  most  of  the  pulpits  of 
the  World. 

IX 


THE  OITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

The  City  of  Jerusalem  shall  arise  from  her  slumbers — 
again  shall  a  Temple  of  splendor  flash  to  the  eyes  of  Jews 
and  Gentiles — again  shall  the  morning  and  evening  sacri- 
fices send  their  thin  smoke  heavenward — again  the  Sopher 
call  be  heard  in  Zion. 

On  some  set  day,  known  only  to  God,  the  Leaders  of  the 
Jews  shall  enter  into  a  covenant  with  the  Prince  of  Babylon — 
he  to  be  their  Protector  and  Guardian  for  seven  years.  Three 
years  and  one-half  afterwards  he  forbids  the  daily  sacrifices. 
He  proclaims  himself  the  Man  God — he  acknowledges  the 
fallen  Prince  Lucifer  as  his  God — his  prophet  proclaims  The 
Man  God  shall  have  universal  recognition  as  God! — The  Trin- 
ity of  Hell  shall  usurp  the  place  of  the  Trinity  of  Heaven 
towards  Humanity. 

Three  years  and  one-half — forty  and  two  months — 1,260 
days — shall  be  the  revelry  of  Hell — then  The  Lord  Christ 
stretches  forth  His  hand  and  the  first  to  feel  the  coming  of 
The  Wrath  of  the  Lamb — Babylon,  The  City  of  Anti-Christ. 
Her  plagues  are  plainly  foretold: 

"The  Gathering  of  Barbarians  of  Asia — lured  by  her  spoil." 

"The  Noisome  Sore." 

"The  Drying  up  of  the  Euphrates." 

"The  turning  of  the  Waters  to  Blood." 

"The  Horrible  Darkness." 

"The  Terrible  Heat." 

"The  Sacking  of  the  City." 

"The  Slaughter  of  the  Inhabitants." 

Then  the  finger  of  Jehovah  Christ  writing  Destrifttion  on 
palaces  and  towers,  the  flame — the  Earthquakes — the  City 
and  Plain  swept  by  the  Besom  of  Destruction  from  Jehovah 
OF  Hosts!  Then  one  may  stand  far  off  and  read  the  perdic- 
tion  recorded  by  God  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
and  say  without  fear  of  a  Shadow  of  Doubt: 

Surely  as  He  hath  spoken  hath  Babylon  been  broken. 

It  is  most  pleasing  to  note  of  the  increasing  number  of  the 
pulpits  in  Great  Britain — more  especially  in  the  Established 

12 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Church  of  England — who  give  forth  "no  uncertain  sound"  as 
to  the  Glorious  Coming  of  the  King,  who  shall  reign  in 
Righteousness,  personally,  and  by  His  Risen  Saints  over  a 
Sanctified  and  Redeemed  Earth  from  which  will  be  lifted 
forever  the  blighting  Curse  of  Sin. 

And  the  pity  of  it  all  that  the  Great  Protestant  Reformers, 
the  Giants  of  the  Imperial  Christ,  should  have  by  their  care- 
less reading  of  the  Prophetic  Scriptures  given  a  chance  to 
the  men  of  later  times  to  build  a  whole  System  of  Prophecy 
on  their  words — that  men  of  the  present  days  can  readily  see 
had  no  foundation  in  fact.  The  Reformers  made  the  fatal 
mistake  of  calling  Rome — Babylon;  and  making  the  Pope 
Anti-Christ — but  the  Bible  to  such  gives  no  countenance.  But 
that  those  days  were  perilous  no  doubt  the  Reformers  would 
have  handled  The  Prophetic  Word,  with  the  same  literalness 
that  they  held  the  Doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith  in  a  Cru- 
cified and  Risen  Lord.  However,  they,  following  the  ancient 
fathers,  made  that  allegation  which  some  of  the  present  day 
Protestants  still  reiterate — ^tho  their  proofs  are  not  convinc- 
ing. In  fact,  the  Doctrine  of  The  Immaculate  Conception  bars 
the  way  of  the  Pope  being  the  Anti-Christ — and  as  long  as 
the  Church  of  Rome  holds  this  doctrine  as  all  precious  to  her 
heart — she  cannot  be  the  City  of  Babylon.  The  Apostle  John 
inspired  by  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  wrote:  "Every  spirit  that 
confesseth  not  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh  is  not  of 
God;  and  that  is  that  spirit  of  Anti-Christ." 

The  most  deadly  doctrine  of  Rome — the  worship  of  Mary 
and  that  for  giving  birth  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — therefore 
undeniable  proof  that  the  Pope  is  not  Anti-Christ.  Again  the 
Apostle  John,  inspired  by  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  wrote: 

"If  any  man  worship  the  heast  and  his  image,  and  receive 
his  mark  in  his  forehead,  the  same  shall  drink  of  the  wine  of 
the  wrath  of  God,  which  is  poured  out  without  mixture  into 
the  cup  of  His  indignation;  and  he  shall  be  tormented  with 

13 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

fire  and  brimstone  in  the  presence  of  the  holy  angels,  and  in 
the  presence  of  the  Lamb,  and  the  smoke  of  their  torment 
ascendeth  up  forever  and  ever,  and  they  have  no  rest  day  nor 
night,  who  worship  the  beast  and  his  image  and  whosoever 
receiveth  the  mark  of  his  name." 

Now  we  are  not  so  foolish  as  to  think  for  one  instant  that 
all  the  followers  of  the  Roman  Church  are  lost — nay,  if  we 
must  write  it — we  believe  the  name  of  Christ  is  Talismanic — 
and  its  utterance  on  dying  lips  have  a  power  we  wot  not  of 
— and  never  can  until  He  comes — or  until  we  cross  the  River 
where  we  shall  in  the  Abode  of  Spirits  awaiting  the  Resurrec- 
tion day,  meet,  and  greet  as  Brethren,  millions  from  the 
Church  of  Rome. 

The  mistake  then  was  making  A  System — The  Anti-Christ 
— when  the  Bible  clearly  states  He  will  be  a  Person. 

The  other  mistake — calling  Rome,  Babylon!  for  which  in 
the  entire  range  of  God's  Blessed  Word  we  have  not  a  single 
verse  or  word  to  give  us  authority  for  so  saying. 

Seeing  then  that  the  Reformers  were  careless  in  this  par- 
ticular— that  the  Divines  have  preached  and  written  wondrous 
tomes  to  prove  a  false  position  for  the  past  three  hundred 
years,  it  is  hardly  a  wonder  that  the  mass  of  Preachers  seeing 
the  absurdity  of  such  Words — are  inclined  to  gloss  over  the 
Character  of  That  Wicked  Person,  yet  to  come,  whose  portrait- 
ure is  so  clearly  defined  by  God  the  Holy  Ghost  in  His  writ- 
ten Word.  The  Religious  Press  and  Christian  Pulpits  are 
largely  silent  on  such  a  Character.  The  Glamour  of  Glory 
and  Splendor  of  Commercial  Exploits  have  dazzled  Christian 
eyes — until  they  dream  such  bringeth  the  Glory  of  God. 

The  unique  position  of  the  Jew  is  entirely  forgotten.  We 
are  full  of  pride,  we  Gentiles — the  lust  of  conquest  in  our 
Anglo-Saxon  blood — and  shall  we  listen  to  the  Word  which 
declares  in  no  uncertain  words — that  in  spite  of  our  hate — 
the  Jews  are  yet  to  be  the  Princes  of  this  Earth. 
The  mass  of  American   Christians  therefore  blinded  by — 

14 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

mark  well  the  words — the  Wilful  Blindness  of  College  Profess- 
ors (and  consequently  of  the  Preachers) — for  they  profess 
to  study,  to  examine,  to  comprehend,  to  teach  young  men  to 
be  expounders  of  God's  Word  to  the  common  people,  and  yet, 
alas,  the  Day  of  Anti-Christian  Darkness  cometh,  but  they 
will  not  heed — nor  do  they  care  to  understand. 

For  we  cannot  but  be  persuaded  of  the  Reasonableness  of 
the  Mercy  and  Grace  of  God  in  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ — The 
King  of  the  Ages,  and  we  know  that  the  earth  shall  not  always 
be  a  Kingdom  of  Wickedness — a  Rebel  Province,  a  Blight 
within  the  Beautiful  Universe  of  God — We  know  that, 
"The  King  shall  come  to  his  own  again." 

And  as  we  look  across  the  world — seeing  the  effects  of  sin — 
beholding  its  misery,  its  pain,  its  anguish,  its  sorrow;  hear 
its  crying  and  lamentations  and  bitter  woe — knowing  that 
there  is  an  infernal  virus  in  the  World  poisoning  Life  at  the 
fountain  head;  that  men  are  utterly  impotent  to  conquer  sin 
— still  Hope  Singeth  to  Faith  Glad  Songs  of  Deliverance  in 
this  night  time,  our  hearts  are  full  of  Gladness — ^tho' 

The  Earth  Is  full  of  bitter  things; 
And  Doubt  has  many  questionings — 
Problems  I  cannot  comprehend, 
Perchance,  will  not  until  the  End ; 
But  well  I  know  that  I  can  wait 
With  simple  trust  outside  His  gate. 
And  when  He  comes  I  know  full  well 
All  wrong  will  be  impossible. 
Now,  in  the  Infancy  of  man, 
None  grasps  all  the  Eternal  Plan, 
We  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight. 
But  when  as  men  we  see  His  light. 
Our  heart  and  lips  all  glad  to  tell : 
Behold,  He  hath  done  all  things  well ! 

We  know  that  the  curse  is  to  be  lifted  from  Humanity — 
from  the  Earth — We  know  over  a  happy  Earth  a  King  shall 
reign  in  Righteousness,  and  Princes  shall  rule  in  judgment 
(The  Risen  Saints).    What  tho'  the  Wise  Men  of  the  present 

16 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

time  regard  it  as  a  vain  oriental  vision  indeed,  and  the' — 

Men  laugh  to  scorn — but  mine  eyes  shall  see  it — 
Gloat  o'er  its  beauty — feel  the  Wind  of  Praise 
Sweep  round  the  world  like  an  adjuration 
Through  Centuries  of  blessed  peaceful  days. 
Not  by  men's  petty  scheming,  nor  their  dreaming. 
Their  nostrums,  nor  their  workings  shall  it  be — 
But  solely  as  the  Work  of  The  Redeemer — 
Standing  beside  The  Risen  Saints,  shall  see. 
For  there  shall  come  a  day  of  bitter  wailing — 
And  Christian  men  their  helplessness  confess — 
And  Christian  pride  shall  cry  in  its  confusion — 

In  Chbist  alone  the  world  must  find  redress ! 

• 
Then  shall  The  Kixg  go  forth  in  all  His  splendor — 
To  matchless  Victory — Christ — and  He  alone 
Who  can  smite  evil  to  a  fell  confounding — 
With  Right  to  rule  a  Priest  upon  His  Throne. 
Then  evermore  be  rent  the  Devil's  fable 
That  men  were  sent  to  conquer  in  Christ's  place — 
And  by  the  Gospel  bring  all  tribes  and  nations 
Into  a  state  of  Holiness  and  Grace. 
The  Devil's  lie — that  made  men  proud  and  Boastful, 
Aye,  men  believed  the  fable  as  God's  own, 
But  they  at  last  their  impotence  confessing 
See  HiM  alone — The  Victor  on  His  Throne. 
O  Blessed  morn  that  breaks  upon  a  world 
Pure  as  the  Lily — fairer  than  the  Rose — 
Without  a  single  jar,  nor  lamentation 
To  mar  the  music  of  God's  Great  Repose. 
The  mountain  droppeth  fatness — and  the  vale 
Laughs  with  the  happy  toilings  of  free  men — 
The  World  has  not  one  spot  of  desolation — 
And  not  a  whisper  nor  a  sense  of  sin. 
Humanity  enjoys  its  modes  from  Labor — 
Want  is  unknown,  and  sorrow  hath  no  voice, 
The  Widow,  and  the  Orphan,  and  the  Stranger, 
No  time  for  weeping — for  all  hearts  rejoice. 
Jehovah — Jesus,   Sitteth   King  Forever — 
And  every  Nation  brings  its  special  Song — 
The  Nations  that  before  had  slain  each  other 
Clasp  hands  as  Brothers  in  that  Praising  throng. 

16 


PRELUDE. 

THE  CRY  OF  THE  WEST  TO  THE  EAST. 

This  the  grim  cry  that  surely  yet  shall  he: 
"O  East!  We  of  the  West,  have  come  to  thee — 
Throw  wide  the  purple  curtains  of  thy  tent 
From  burning  questions  give  us  dull  content; 
Kill  us  the  fatted  calf  our  fathers  spurned — 
Their  wiser  children  have  at  last  returned; 
Take  all  our  vaunted  Glory  and  grim  Powers 
And  for  a  little  let  thy  scented  couch  be  ours. 
Oh,  give  us  of  thy  music  and  its  charms! 
Oh,  put  around  our  necks  thy  luscious  arms! 
And  make  our  eyes  lascivious  with  thy  kiss — 
Oh,  let  us  dream  of  perfect  Happiness — 
Our  heads  upon  thy  bosom — there  to  rest 
To  feel  delicious  movings  of  thy  breast, 
Draw  round  our  eyes  the  midnight  of  thy  hair 
So  in  its  meshes  to  shut  out  despair; 
And  only  raise  our  heads  to  give  us  wine 
Long  kept  for  many  years,  a  draught  divine 
Maddening  the  cooling  passions  of  our  veins — 
Fling  to  unbridled  Passion  unchecked  reins — 
And  teach  us  secrets  that  our  fathers  held 
Abominations  in  the  years  of  eld! 
Give  us  Your  Gods  and  teach  our  knees  to  bend 
To  The  Great  Mother! — to  the  human's  friend — 
Who  asks  no  prayers,  nor  vigils,  not  inspired 
By  Pleasure's  throbbings!     Long  have  we  desired 
A  Mother  God!  who  by  her  gladsome  rite 
Only  makes  prayer  a  revel  of  Delight — 
The  Dance  an  Ecstacy — the  song  of  glee — 
The  rustling  wings  of  sweetest  minstrelsy! 

17 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

We  have  forsaken  all  our  ancient  Gods! 
Long  hath  the  West  felt  the  keen  lash  of  rods 
Making  life  bitter! — Ah!  so  drear  our  days 
With  nasal  twanging  of  a  dismal  praise 
Which  now  fills  soul  with  loathing  of  The  Thing; 

Lo,  now  the  pallid  Christ  a  dethroned  King! 

No  longer  with  torn  feet  we  follow  from  afar 

The  misty  Light  of  Bethlehemitish  Star! 

Lo,  see  we  trample  'neath  our  miry  feet 

The  Christ — men  tryed  to  think  was  very  sweet — 

His  emblems  be  accursed! 

Ah!  we  have  fought 
Long  bitter  years  against  the  growing  thought 
That  Science  whispered  in  our  heart  and  brain. 
Making  the  long  years  frantic  in  our  pain 
Of  holding  to  His  teachings — we  would  fain 
Hope  against  Hope  that  it  was  not  in  vain! 
We  piled  upon  His  altars  all  held  dear — 
Stood  in  wildest  darkness — shivering  fear 
A  costly  garment,  purchased  at  such  cost 
Of  Blood  and  Treasure — now  Faith  is  Lost 
And  evermore  a  mockery  of  Hope! 
To  cut  this  Great  Hope — was  as  cutting  rope 
To  which  we  swung  suspended  in  the  air — 
Above  true  footing — and  below — Despair! 
But  now  with  Science  we  have  held  our  tryst — 
See  now.  Behold,  we  trample  on  The  Christ! 
And  set  on  fire  the  stately  Houses  built 
For  many  Centuries  with  Blood  and  Guilt! 
Think  you  it  cost  us  nothing  thus  to  rend 
Our  thought  all  from  Him — He  we  deemed  our  Friend 
In  Life — in  Death — and  who  would  surely  light 
Our  footsteps  from  the  Everlasting  night? 

18 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

But  Science  whispered — and  her  voice  we  heed — 
We  stand  Apostates!     Glory  in  the  deed! 
And  are  prepared  to  follow  thee  to  shrine 
Our  fathers  in  far  ages  deemed  Divine — 
And  were  such  fools  to  throw  behind  their  back- 
Then  facing  Westward  on  that  awful  track 
With  every  footprint  marked  by  blood  and  bone — 
Sacrifices — Lamentations — and  deep  moan — 
Building  their  cities  where  the  North  winds  blew, 
And  icicles  were  formed  when  fell  the  dew 
On  their  pale  flowers — the  jagged,  barren  plains 
Which  yielded  little  harvest  for  their  pains; 
They  hissed  at  all  your  Gods  and  went  their  way 
Amid  the  forest  fastnesses  to  pray — 
At  last  gave  honor  to  an  Outcast  Jew! 
He,  whose  own  brothers — all  despising — slew, 
Giving  his  flesh  unto  the  carrion  birds! 
Our  fathers  sang  they  loved  Him  in  great  words, 
They  sang  His  praises,  and  they  bent  the  knee 
In  childish  Hope  and  wild  expectancy — 
They  laid  upon  His  altars  everywhere 
Their  pleasures,  and  their  riches,  till  the  air 
Was  murky  with  sweet  incense — and  their  tears 
Would  make  an  ocean  in  the  many  years 
They  crucified  their  pleasures  at  His  feet! 
Bringing  all  human  happiness  held  sweet — 
The  laugh  of  childhood — and  wild  throb  of  youth 
When  to  the  budding  bosom  came  the  truth 
Of  Nature's  keenest  madness  of  Delight — 
But  such,  our  fathers  crushed  and  from  their  sight 
They  put  the  taber,  lute,  and  luscious  sound — 
Which  make  the  living  pulses  leap  and  bound 
In  manhood's  brain — they  made  their  women  go 
In  sackcloth  clad — with  looks  of  pious  woe — 
Whenever  more  the  bubble  of  the  heart 

19 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Would  with  wild  longing  tear  the  weeds  apart 
And  catch  a  partner  in  a  wanton  grace, 
And  with  wild  laughter  on  seductive  face. 
Dance  to  the  nod  of  roses  in  their  glee — 
Where  singing  birds  made  a  glad  melody! 

But  our  stern  fathers  frowned  on  laughing  face, 
Banished  for  ages  winsomeness  and  grace. 
Toiling  and  working  with  Titanic  Power, 
From  Cradle  to  the  Grave  was  every  hour 
Full  of  fresh  Labor — and  as  heart  must  seek 
For  some  strange  worship  if  not  women's  cheek, 
Our  fathers  held  the  Gold  Piece  to  our  eyes 
Till  it  grew  luminous — and  filled  our  skies 
With  its  metal ic  splendor — until  men 
Grew  devilish  and  cunning  such  to  win! 
So  Youth,  and  Manhood,  and  Old  Age  went  mad 
To  grasp  possessions — greediest  those  who  had 
A  store  above  the  common — until  Christ  at  last 
Grew  dim  and  dimmer  (with  his  suffering  past) 
Outdistanced  by  this  Gold  God — and  was  past 
With  sullen  sneering — by  the  men  who  cast 
Their  spital  on  the  Christ — They  once  deemed  sweet- 
Now  in  the  rushing  thunder  of  their  feet 
Were  swiftest  in  their  madness  to  get  Gold. 

So  when  the  Priests  saw  Manhood  growing  cold 
To  churchly  duties,  they  gave  bitter  cry. 
Throwing  their  arms  in  antics  wild  on  high. 
And  sought  to  win  our  women  by  their  prayer; 
But  as  our  women  knew  they  were  most  fair 
With  silk,  and  lace,  and  flashing  of  bright  stones. 
They  hesitated — awed  a  minute  by  the  moans 
Of  a  crushed  Priest — but,  ah,  the  costly  lace 
Would  give  such  sunshine  to  a  blushing  face — 

20 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

They  listened  to  the  wild  throb  in  the  breast. 

They  thought  that  nature  surely  knew  the  best — 

And  they,  like  us — the  men  of  iron  will — 

No  longer  would  keep  vigil  where  the  still 

And  silent  Christ  would  never  give  a  sign 

He  heard  our  prayers,  nor  show  He  was  Divine! 

He  never  once  gave  answer  to  our  tears — 

He  kept  His  mouth  shut  near  two  thousand  years 

And  would  not  give  a  word  to  all  our  moans — 

Surely  the  Syrian  rocks  had  his  Bones 

And  gave  not  back  their  keeping  on  the  day 

The  Priests  said — "Angels  rolled  the  stone  away!" 

We  fain  would  have  believed  Him — and  we  cried 

To  Priest  and  Heaven — but  evermore  denied 

Of  any  answer — silent  Earth  and  Sky 

Of  any  Christ  to  answer  to  our  cry! 

Then  came  our  madness — nay!  but  our  relief — • 

We  tore  us  from  our  hearts  The  Christ  belief — 

The  Christ  who  made  the  future  horrible 

With  everlasting  burnings  in  His  hell! 

We  dared  Him  and  His  Angels  to  bring  forth 

His  crushing  thunders — aye,  we  made  wild  sport 

Of  His  grand  churches — setting  them  ablaze! 

But  will  that  compensate  for  all  the  days 
We  have  neglected  pleasure — can  we  bring 
Again  the  Youth  forever  taken  wing? 
The  Grave  is  near  us — and  Oblivion  soon 
Will  chill  the  blood  and  hush  the  merry  tune — 
O  Let  us  then  a  moment  e'er  we  glide 
Pale  Ghostly  shadows  on  destruction's  tide 
Feel  of  the  pleasures — you  so  long  have  felt, 
And  at  your  feet  we  pour  down  all  our  wealth! 
Lo!  now  BO  Hungry  with  our  dreary  fast — 

21 


TBffi  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

We  the  Dead  Christ  to  bats  and  owls  have  cast- 
We  come  from  Christian  misery  and  tears 
Weary  and  very  hungry  from  wan  years 
Standing  in  darkness  of  The  Christian's  Night! 
Lo!  we  have  come  to  thee  for  pleasant  Light 
For  feasting  and  for  music — stretch  thy  hand 
And  lead  us — footsore  travelers — to  the  land 
Where  Earthly  Pleasures  blossom  to  their  prime- 
And  in  thy  arms  forget  Christ's  bondage  time. 


THE  LADY  OF  NATIONS. 


Lo!  the  Reeds  in  the  River  cry 
For  the  glories  that  have  passed  by. 
When  a  City  in  Golden  pride 
Flashed  its  lights  on  Euphrates*  tide. 
Lo!  the  Reeds  in  the  River  cry 
"Where  wild  Ruins  to  Ruins  sigh — 
But  they  yet  shall  lift  up  their  head 
And  all  men  be  astonished! 
Tho'  the  Reeds  in  the  River  cry 
For  the  glories  that  have  gone  by — 
Ah,  the  Future  Glory  shall  be 
Like  a  wonderful  Vision  to  see! 
Ah!  the  Reeds  in  the  River  cry 
For  their  Reaper's  hand  is  anigh — 
Lo!  The  Comer  shall  build  again 
What  the  praise  of  all  men  shall  win. 

Lo!  the  Reeds  in  the  River  sigh — 
And  the  past  like  a  ghost  comes  nigh- 
Like  the  fretful  shades  of  a  dream — 
Vanished  Glories  all  grandly  gleam. 
Lo,  it  flashes  on  God-lit  face 
Of  the  early  dawn  of  our  Race, 
When  here  by  Euphrates'  swift  tide 
Built  Nimrod  the  Tower  of  his  Pride. 
Then  were  men  of  the  Giant  mould — 
All  God-like  were  they  to  behold — 
Such  cunning  of  hand  and  of  brain — 
The  earth  has  not  seen  such  again! 
Grand  both  their  conception  and  skill, 

23 


THE  OITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

So  daring  in  wish  and  in  will. 
Impiously  daring  in  Pride — 
Cast  all  thought  of  High  Heaven  aside! 
One  may  in  their  lineaments  trace 
A  vanishing  glory  and  grace — 
Once  glory  and  pride  in  our  race — 
When  God  spoke  to  man  face  to  face! 

Lo,  a  dream  came  to  Nimrod's  brain. 
The  lust  and  the  wishing  to  reign — 
Impiously  daring  to  sin, 
Not  man — but  as  God  would  he  win! 
Ah,  surely  The  Tempter  had  smiled 
At  the  daring  wish  of  his  child. 
And  men  in  his  thrall  were  once  more 
When  they  bowed  on  knee  to  adore! 
Nimrod  loving  the  lust  of  his  heart 
Had  caused  by  the  subtle  of  art 
His  face  on  all  standards  to  blaze, 
That  men  may  behold  it  and  praise. 
And  to  fetter  the  heart  and  enthrall 
Made  his  wife — the  Mother  of  All — 
Be  worshiped  with  many  a  rite. 
That  blushingly  dark  made  the  night! 
So  trampling  the  thought  of  all  shame 
Set  passions  of  men  all  aflame 
With  lewd  desire — like  a  beast. 
Unrestrained  to  wallow  and  feast! 
And  scorning  the  folds  of  a  tent 
Great  Babel  arose  in  its  strength. 
Foundations  deep  laid  as  in  guilt — 
Imbued  with  the  blood  he  had  spilt; 
No  wrong  he  could  do  was  undone 
Till  pride  of  his  daring  was  won — 
Before  God — ^was  none  in  degree 

24 


THE  OITY  OP  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

So  daringly  wicked  as  he! 

Jehovah,  they  scorned,  came  down,  * 

And  lo,  by  His  withering  frown 

With  confusion  of  tongues  they  were  rent — 

Dispelled  from  their  foolish  intent; 

When  one  hailed  with  -kindness  his  brother, 

It  seemed  they  were  mocking  each  other — 

Till  heart  of  each  brother  afraid 

Shrank  back  from  the  other  dismayed! 

Such  fear  was  upon  them — they  went 

Like  arrows  in  swiftest  flight  sent 

From  place  of  their  pride — they  were  driven 

Scattered  abroad  unforgiven! 

But  so  sharp  were  the  dragon  teeth  sown — 
Like  as  seed  of  the  thistle  down  blown 
To  the  uttermost  ends  of  the  Earth — 
And  'twas  thus  came  Idolatry's  Birth! 

********* 
What  story  is  this  that  the  East  wind  brings? 
A  stir  on  the  earth — a  whirr  of  wings — 
*Twould  seem  as  all  men  had  but  one  mind — 
The  way  they  wrought — the  way  of  the  wind! 
For,  lo,  by  Euphrates'  lordly  tide 
Stands  a  stately  city — vast  and  wide — 
And  under  one  princely  dome  is  set 
The  Pagoda,  the  Cross,  and  the  Minaret! 
Had  Nimrod's  spirit  come  back  again 
To  rule  o'er  passions  and  hate  of  men? 
With  more  daring  will  on  vaster  stage 
Act  impious  works  of  an  earlier  age! 
The  End  of  the  Ages  brought  a  man 
Most  daring  of  will  and  brain  to  plan. 
To  grasp  an  Empire  and  win  a  name — 
To  put  all  the  Empires  of  Earth  to  shame! 


THE  crrr  op  the  ante-christ. 

jLo,  He  cometh  with  Panterish  tread 
T§  build  a  home  in  Grave  of  the  Dead, 
How  swiftly  his  clawish  hands  begin 
To  build  to  wonder  and  praise  of  men! 

And  who  is  He?  Say,  whence  he  came? 

Tho'  Greece  may  human  birth  right  claim, 

Was  He  alone  of  mortal  birth — 

Alone,  a  very  Son  of  Earth? 

No  Royal  couch  his  swaddling  place, 

No  Queenly  Mother  kissed  his  face. 

No  ancient  line  of  high  degree 

Could  claim  him  as  a  protege. 

Perchance  a  child  of  love — of  shame — 

And  could  he  claim  a  father's  name — 

*'TKe  vile  one"  none  may  dare  to  say 

The  name  they  called  him  yesterday. 

Yet  who  was  He?     Could  simple  man 

Such  vast  designs  and  wonders  plan? 

He  found  a  desert — made  a  place 

The  matchless  wonder  of  the  Race! 

No  Princely  birth — he   simply  stood 

One  of  the  common  Brotherhood! 

One  of  the  many  millions  who 

Toiled  in  the  shackles  for  the  few! 

Then  whence  the  learning?  whence  the  mind 

That  seemed  no  height  nor  depth  confined? 

What  Gifts  divine  where  on  his  tongue. 

Such  songs  no  other  Poet  sung! 

He  came — no  armies  at  his  back, 

No  city  feared  that  he  would  sack. 

No   husbandman   forsook    his   field. 

No  maiden  virtue  forced  to  yield. 

No   vultures — darkness — smoke   clad    skies — 

A  terror  to  the  gazer's  eyes — 


THE  CTTT  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

He   came   from   out  his   humble   place 
A  Blessing  to  the  Human  Race! 

Never  before  had  the  human  Race 

Worked  with  such  will  in  an  earthly  place, 

Very  Wonder  of  Wonders  to  see, 

That  City  blossomed  in  Majesty! 

Lo,  toilers  building,  and  not  in  vain. 

Houses  sprang  up  on  the  empty  plain, 

Palaces  rare  in  their  splendor  rose. 

Beauty  and  Art  in  a  grand  repose, 

Storehouses — dwellings — were  multiplied 

On  either  side  of  Euphrates'  tide. 

Fair  Bridges  over  its  waters  ran 

The  Glory — praise — the  wonder  of  man! 

The  builders  building  as  men  who  be 

Filled   with   a   builder's   ecstacy. 

For  men  were  startled  at  their  own  powers. 

They  had  not  dreamed  that  a  few  short  hours 

Would  give  to  the  Earth  such  city  fair, 

That  none  on  Earth  may  with  it  compare! 

Like  fabled  City  it  seemed  to  rise 

As  a  morning  mist  before  their  eyes, 

A  mist  that  took  shape  in  brick  and  stone — 

That  faded  not  when  the  bright  sun  shone! 

Lo,   the  World   heard — and   believing  not 
Rushed,  that  the  eyes  may  behold  such  spot. 
Saw,  and  believed  that  a  single  street 
Rang  to  the  tread  of  a  million  feet! 
A  Thing  of  Wonder  o'er  all  the  Earth, 
The  World  rejoiced  at  Babylon's  birth. 
Nations   rejoiced   at  so   strange   a   thing — 
A  Wonder  of   Human   Blossoming! 
The  World  rejoiced  with  a  loud  acclaim 

27 


THE  Cirr  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

As  it  sprang  once  more  to   ancient  fame — 
Ancient  Glory!   ah,  such  words  men  deem 
As  empty  title — for  who  could  dream 
In  world  of  eld — such  a  place  as  this — 
Compared  with  Heaven — was  it  much  amiss? 

(Heaven!  Heaven!  what  eye  has  beheld  the  place? 
The  thought  is  a  curse  to  the  human  race! 
This  holding  of  earthly  things  as  vain 
In  future  some  misty  heaven  to  gain, — 
Prating  of  Spirit — and  spirit  rest — 
Who  hath  returned  that  was  such  wise  blest? 
That  we  can  handle,  and  smell,  and  see — 
The  Earth  is  alone  Reality! 
What  around  us  but  natural  things? 
No  scurrying  angels'  golden  wings — 
Come,  let  the  dreaming  of  Heaven  be  done — 
Living  to  love  'neath  the  beautiful  sun; 
Come,  let  the  dreaming  of  Heaven  be  done 
Living  to  laugh  in  the  beautiful  sun; 
Drink  of  its  wines  and  rich  fleshes  taste 
Never  one  moment  of  Pleasure  to  waste — 
Sound  Harpstring — tabert — sweet  voices  of  lute — 
Of  sounds  that  are  pleasant  let  not  one  be  mute; 
Gay  youths  and  maidens  in  witcheries  dance 
Drink  to  Queen  Venus  in  sighing  and  glance — 
Steep  every  sense  in  rapturous  pleasure. 
Fulfill  Desire  to  its  uttermost  measure; 
Step  to  the  revel  with  hearts  all  aflame 
Thrilling  of  Passion  and  Pleasure  to  claim! 
When  eating,  drinking,  and  dancing  are  o'er 
Sweet  strains  of  music  lull  ears  evermore; 
Senses  all   throbbing  with   rapturous   bliss — 
Pulsations  of  Pleasure — the  clinging — the  kiss — 
Pleasure  languid  sink  back  on  couches  of  roses, 

28 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

The  spirit  still  smiling  while  nature  reposes. 
Then  nature  enfeebled  by  kissing  at  last 
Shall  fall  asleep  smiling  at  joys  that  are  past: 
Sweet  sleeping — where  waking  will  come  nevermore—. 
To  Ether  the  spirit  returns  as  before!) 

This  was  a  City  that  knew  not  night 
All  men  called  her:     "The  City  of  Light!" 
Lo!   Science  had  given  electric  powers 
Magic  to  conquer  the  midnight  hours. 
So  where  night  ended,  and  day  began. 
Scarcely  was  known  to  the  working  man; 
For  light  as  brilliant  as  sun  at  noon 
Was  free  as  the  air — the  light  of  moon 
Dim  as  a  taper  to  this  great  blaze 
Of  Electrical   Splendor — the   days 
Measured  no  longer  by  set,  nor  rise 
Of  sun.  nor  moon,  in  the  burning  skies, 
Builders  and  Workers  at  night  then  wrought 
Without  giving  the  change  a  single  thought. 
Builders  but  knowing  of  changing  time 
When  Labor  Bells  rang  their  silvery  chime — 
Working  men   banded   in  great  relays. 
Toiled  on  unceasingly  nights  and  days 
Building   Palace,   and   Store   House,   and   Hall. 

Light,  Beautiful  Light,  was  flashed  to  all 
Palace  and  Hovel — the  poorest  place 
Shone  in  a  splendor  of  perfect  grace. 
All  on  equality  surely  here — 
Light  without  measure,  as  free  as  air! 
Harnessed,  this  glorious  light  to  provide 
The  rush  and  sweep  of  Euphrates'  tide — 
Surely  the  toiler  must  pleasure  feel 
When  Public  Taxed  for  the  poor  man's  weal. 

29 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

On  either  side  of  the  lordly  tide. 

Gay  houses  stood  in  palatial  pride, 

Barbaric  splendor,  and  artist  hand. 

Made  them  the  wonder  of  every  land. 

One  held  his  breath  as  he  entered  in — 

Splendor — the   fancy   and  eye  to  win, 

Where  e'er  one  turned  a  wondering  face 

He  reveled   in   Beauty,  Art  and   Grace; 

Such  Gardens   luxuriant  in   every  sense, 

Where  one  may  stray  in  a  glad  suspense 

Of  what  fresh  glory  may  catch  the  eye 

Of  this  green  heaven  of  cloudless  sky; 

A  world  of  flowers  the  feet  to  bless, 

Flowers  of  surpassing  loveliness. 

And  the  rarest  trees  of  the  tropic  span 

Budded  and  blushed  to  gaze  of  man; 

Water  leaped  up  in  the  brilliant  light 

From  lips  of  a  Pan,  and  Aphrodite — 

Wrought  by  the  cunning  in  bronze  and  stone — 

Such  marvels  would  grace  e'en  Jove's  own  throne. 

The  Public  Gardens  were  more  than  fair — 

A  costly  splendor  was  everywhere — 

Beauty  thrown  down  with  a  fine  disdain 

As  the  giver  had  held  a  princedom  vain. 

Flowers — such  Flowers!  until  the  eyes 

Cared  not  to  look  to  far  Paradise, 

This — a  heaven  surpassingly  grand — 

With  flowers  and  fruit  for  the  plucker's  hand. 

Lo,  every  hour  of  the  day  and  night 

Those  gardens  were  filled  with  life  and  light. 

The  dance  went  on  to  the  string  and  lute. 

The  rarest  music  was  never  mute. 

The  cunning  artist  from  every  land 

Choice  in  their  singing,  and  deft  of  hand, 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Flocked  to  this  city — for  welcome  here. 
The  godliest  gifts  for  musician   rare. 
For  out  of  the  Public  purse  there  roll'd 
A  generous  stream  of  yellow  gold, 
And  thus  most  magical  gifts  were  won 
For  Rich  and  for  Poor  of  Babylon. 
From  glaring  sun  was  the  palm  tree  shade 
Where  Loves  may  wander  of  naught  afraid — 
Flowers  at  their  feet — and  ripe  fruit  around — 
The  ears  enraptured  with  rarest  sound — 
Murmuring  waters   and   sylvan   shade — 
Arbor  of  flowers  for  the  youth  and  maid- 
Rarest  of  mosses  for  slumbers  light 
When  they  had  kissed  to  the  Aphrodite. 

Richest  City  beneath  the  sun — 
Not  a  hungry  soul  In  Babylon, 
For  he  whose  hand  could  not  win  him  bread 
Was  out  of  the   Public  largess  fed. 
Work — there  was  plenty  of  work  to  do — 
Why  the  million  fingers  were  far  too  few 
So  much  to  be  done — so  short  the  day — 
Mechanics  held  undisputed  sway. 
So  many  eager  to  shape  and  build — 
So  many  anxious  to  paint  and  guild — 
The  cost  not  counted  as  wont  of  old — 
The  poor  man  laughed  at  this  rush  of  gold 
The  old  time  cunning  entirely  lost — 
There  was  no  pausing  to  count  the  cost, 
Each  one  intent  of  his  own  fell  way 
With  never  thought  of  reckoning  day; 
Plenty  of  gold  for  the  wildest  schemes — 
Plenty  of  gold  for  Utopian  dreams — 
Lenders  more  anxious  than  e'er  before 
There  seemed  no  end  to  the  golden  store! 

31 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

None  of  your  baser  metals — pure  gold 

In  rivulets  ran — in  broad  streams  roU'd — 

Where   Babylon's   jeweled   chalice   may   be — 

A  turbulent,  shimmering,  yellow  sea. 

Success  it  smiled  upon  every  one 

Happy  the   dweller  in   Babylon 

Plenty  and  Pleasure  wed  hand  with  hand 

Made  it  the  wonder  of  every  land. 

O  Lady  of  Nations!     Greed  of  gain 
Is  bringing  thy  children  back  again, 
They  feel  in  their  breasts  the  magic  power — 
And   come   to   suck  at  thy  golden   flower! 
They  come  as  hordes  of  the  locusts  come — 
The  world  resounds  with  thy  busy  hum 
Of  driving  wheels — for  the  master  hand 
Has   electric   needles   in   every   land! 
O  wondrous  Light  of  a  wondrous  land! 
What  harvests  wave  for  the  reaper's  hand! 
For  little  sowing  such  luscious  crop 
What  gold  from  the  lily  fingers  drop! 
Lo,  see  mid  the  purple  folds  on  high 
His   golden    "Ephah"    enchants   the   eye — 
For  this  shall  the  sign  of  his  glory  be 
O'er  every  land  to  the  uttermost  sea! 

Lo,  now  to  the  sleepy  Arab's  eyes 
Loom  funneled  ships  of  gigantic  size, 
And  lo,  on  the  quay  the  craftsman's  hand 
Piles  up  the  treasures  of  distant  land. 
Ah,  one  may  read  on  the  sacred  page 
The  richest  gathered  in  this  last  age. 
Fulfil'd  to  the  letter  in  everything 
That  the  trading  heart  of  the  Nation's  bring. 
Here  where  the  tides  of  the  nations  meet 

32 


1:HE  city  of  the  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Strange  faces  are  seen  on  every  street. 
They  meet  as  never  they've  met  before. 
Like  chips  wave  washed  from  every  shore. 
The  Dream  of  Earth's  Dreamers  now  is  true--- 
Here  mingle  nations  of  every  hue — 
Commerce  hath  won  where  Religion  fail'd — 
The  Love  of  Wealth  has  o'er  all  prevailed! 
For  here  as  one  common  brotherhood. 
Where  each  man  may  trade  for  his  own  good. 
Where  each  may  worship  as  he  may  will 
In  heart  of  hearts — but  the  tongue  be  still- 
Never  should   fall  on  the   listening  ear 
Religious  word  that  one  would  not  hear. 
For  none  may  in  hatred  here  dispute 
Of  that  Unknowable  Thing— The   Truth! 

To  Commerce  they  built  a  splendid  place 
Of  Grand   design — of  a  matchless   grace—" 
A  very  wonder  of  art  to  see 
Fantastic — Massive — Reality ! 
An  Ideal  Place  where  all  may  bring — 
Each  of  his  art  an  offering 
Displaying  what  brain  had  power  to  plan 
The  Wonder — Glory,  and  Praise  of  Man! 
An   Ideal   place  where  each  may  bring 
Of  his  grateful  heart  an  offering. 
Whatever  the  craftsman's  hands  had  wrought 
Was  now  displayed  as  a  crowning  thought. 

Splendor  Barbaric — a  Golden  shrine 
That  poetic  license  may  call  divine, 
Man  worshiping  man  in  songs  of  praise 
For  Glories  that  man  alone  could   raise! 
An  Ideal  Place  where  all  may  come 
To  sound  of  the  trumpet,  fffe  and  drum, 

33 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

With  all  dulcet  sounds  of  art  and  voice. 
Where  gladden'd  hearts  may  so  well  rejoice. 
They  made  an  Image  of  wondrous  Grace 
To  be  the  Queen  of  this  Golden  Place — 
Goddess  of  all — cj  wonder  of  art 
Charming  the  eye,  enchanting  the  heart, 
A  woman's  face — where  the  jewels  rare 
Flashed,  as  a  golden  sun  was  there! 
A  poetic  Thought — a  sweet  pretense — 
They  worshiped  her  not  in  any  sense — 
They  held  as  a  link  this  golden  shrine — 
The  Human  wedded  to  the  Divine! 
An  object  lesson  to  human  eyes — 
Like  a  maiden  pure — a  glad  surprise 
That  ever  the  hand  of  man  could  bring 
Such  beauty  fair  to  his  fashioning! 
Exquisite  Image  that  seemed  to  be 
A  Living,  breathing  reality! 
Ah,  surely  the  praise  that  such  could  win 
Should  not  be  held  as  a  thought  of  sin! 
When  Mariner  came  from  o'er  the  sea 
Here  with  thankful  heart  he  bent  the  knee. 

The  Husbandman  with  his  sheaves  of  wheat 

And  purple  grapes  to  lay  at  her  feet. 

The  trader  came  who  had  won  great  gain, 

(A  King  may  not  hold  such  offerings  vain) 

The  best  designs  of  the  wondrous  loom. 

Rare,  costly  spices  of  rich  perfume, 

None  came  but  with  offerings  bent  the  knee — 

For  her  sweet  name  was  Prosperity! 

Ah,  these  subtle  Greeks  were  wondrous  wise 

When  they  pictured  passions  to  the  eyes. 

For  only  Embodiment  of  Thought 

Were  the  wondrous  works  their  fingers  wrought 

34 


THE  CITY  OP  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

So  one  by  one  where  the  Greek  Gods  brought 
Arrayed  In  the  dress  of  modern  thought, 
Till  filled  were  the  Halls  of  the  pantheon— 
You  counted  the  Gods  and  missed  not  one! 

How  can  Finite  grasp  the  Infinite? 

Invisible  flash  to  human  sight? 

But  Image  each  Passion  of  the  Soul 

Then  the  mind  can  grasp  a  wondrous  whoW 

So  e'er  men  knew  it  this  Aphrodite 

Leaped  up  an  image  of  Life  and  Light; 

Garlanded  with  flowers  the  nude  maids  came 

All  lost  to  the  thought  or  sense  of  shame, 

A  Poetic  Thought  that  some  deplore 

When  nude  girls  dance  on  the  marble  floor, 

And  behind  where  the  shimmering  curtains  be 

Are  the  gilded  Halls  of  Debauchery! 

Now  Commerce  stood  supreme  indeed 
O'er  every  sect,  or  cult,  or  creed. 
Sacred  the  right  it  deemed  its  own- 
Triumphantly  it  stood  alone 
O'er  all  rights  Human  or  Divine! 
Humanity  did  here   resign 
Its  wealth— its  power— its  everything— 
Commerce  the  Universal  King! 
All  recognized  its  one  great  aim 
Was  not  for  Glory,  nor  for  Fame, 
Was  not  for  Empire,   nor  for  Blood. 
But  solely  for  the  Common  Good! 
Utility  the  aim.  the  Trend, 
All  worked  for  this  one  Glorious  End— 
The  one  sole  object  in  Its  mind 
The  betterment  of  Human  Kind, 
To  make  the  good  things  of  the  earth 

35 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

The  Common  Blessings — so  that  mirth 
At  every  human  heart  would  sing — 
And  hanish  want  and  suffering. 

Therefore  to  bless  all  human  needs 

The  elements  of  Jarring  Creeds 

Unlawful  in  this  City  grand 

In  fact  o'er  all  Chaldee's  land 

All  churches  banished — so  that  man 

May  carry  out  the  new  born  plan — 

That  Human  Brotherhood  may  be 

Religion  of  Humanity! 

Too  long  had  jarring  creeds  destroyed — 

Too  long  had  jarring  creeds  made  void 

The  Blessed  Gospel  of  Men's  Rights — 

For  centuries  the  doleful  sights 

Of  murder,  rapine,   plunder,   strife. 

Had  crushed  the  Universal  Life, 

Making  men  Bigots,  Slaves,  and  Fools 

Of  Priests  and  Priestcraft — various  schoolf 

And  each  more  savage  in  its  cult 

To  blast,  and  blight,  and  to  insult 

The  Human — till  its  back  was  sore 

With  cruel  burdens  that  it  bore. 

It  was  the  Churches'  cruel  aim 

To  put  humanity  to  shame. 

Make  men  decrepit  in  their  aims. 

Filling  the  world  with  faggot  flames 

If  some  strong  soul  gave  forth  a  cry, 

Or  made  protest — the  cruel  eye 

Laughed  at  grim  tortures  made  for  those 

Who  would  not  slaves  in  Church  repose. 

But  dared  to  lift  proud  free  men's  hands 

'Gainst  the  corruptions  in  all  lands. 

Tortures  that  only  fiendish  brains. 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Or  Christ's — could  shape  to  hold  in  chains 
The  Human  soul  in  bands  and  bounds 
To  masses,  crosses — empty  sounds 
Of  Hell  and  Heaven — and  such  vain  things 
That  aided  Czars,  and  Priests,  and  Kings. 
To  press  the  Human  'neath  the  heel, 
Aided  by  powder,  ball  and  steel, 
Surely  indeed  if  such  Christ's  friends, 
And  if  he  blessed  their  fatal  ends, 
'Twere  time  the  Human  spat  at  him — 
In  fancy  tear  him  limb  from  limb! 
Trample  his  sign  beneath  their  feet. 
And  fain  again  would  they  complete 
His  former  crucifying — dare 
His  boasted  Godhead — ask  to  share 
The  curse  that  fell  upon  the  head 
Of  Israel  when  his  blood  was  shed! 
Yes,  with  the  Roman  soldiers  rail — 
With  scorpion  rods  his  back  assail — 
With  spitting — laughter  would  they  hail — 
Scourge  him  until  a  bloody  trail 
Would  mark  each  footstep — drive  the  nail 
Unto  his  quivering  flesh — and  say: 
"Humanity  is  free  today!" 

And  so  with  daring  and  fell  pride 
This  Prince  cast  the  Divine  aside. 
And  preaching  of  a  loftier  hope 
A  wider  field — unbounded  scope — 
For  human  purposes  and  aims — 
To  broaden  knowledge — wider  claims 
To  give  Humanity  its  chance — 
To  cast  aside  the  spear  and  lance 
The  gatling  gun — repeating  rife- 
All  the  cursed  emblems  born  of  strife 

87 


THE  OITT  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

Banished  from  land  where  peace  should  be 

The  watchword  of  Humanity! 

The  Common  Good,  and  that  alone. 

From   Pauper's   hut  to   Prince's   throne 

The  cry  of  every  heart — then  man 

Would  shape  the  true  redemptive  plan, 

Lifting  Humanity  to  heights 

Not  dreamed  by  Poets'  loftiest  flights 

Of  rhapsody — till  man  was  made 

A  Godlike  thing,  and  not  afraid 

Of  Hell  nor  Heaven — but  stood  complete 

A  very  God  on  his  own  feet! 

For  not  a  holier  thing  may  be 

More  Godlike — than  Humanity! 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce — A  stately  pile 
Where  Bronzes  and  Marbles  in  sculpture  smile — 
Carvings  magnificent — with  pictures  rare — 
A  lavish  expenditure  everywhere. 
In  the  large  saloon  where  the  Traders  met 
Once  seen  by  eye — one  could  never  forget — 
But  not  its  gorgeously  sculptured  art 
That  held  the  eye,  and  enchained  the  heart; 
To  one  who  stood  in  high  gallery 
And  downward  looked  on  the  shouting  sea — 
*Twas  the  noise,  the  rush  on  that  vast  floor — 
Rang  the  Bear's  harsh  cry — and  Bull's  mad  roar- 
Where  Brokers  in  very  babal  stand — 
Where  fortunes  changed  by  uplifted  hand — 
A  lifted  finger — A  nodded  head — 
In  acceptance  oft  not  one  word  said — 
Closed   a  quick  trade  of  volume  vast 
A  fortune  staked — in  a  maelstrom  cast 
At  mercy  of  cliques — and  corners  made 
By  Ishmalites  of  Commercial  Trade. 

88 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

This  room  was  the  centre  of  all  Earth's  trade — 

Here  were  the  value  of  all  things  made — 

Here  set  the  price  upon  everything 

Owned  by  a  pauper,  or  held  by  a  King — 

Here  was  the  throbbing  Commercial  heart. 

The  rounded  world  to  uttermost  part 

Felt  the  pulsation  of  fall  and  rise. 

Its  quotations  watched  by  all  traders'  eyes — 

Wherever  they  stood  they  counted  cost 

How  Babylons'  market  held  or  lost. 

On  every  purchase  the  trade  was  done 

At  price  such  would  sell  in  Babylon. 

So  the  City  on  the  Euphrates'  tide 

Again  held  a  power  that  was  world  wide 

Till  hardly  a  creature  on  the  earth 

But  here  was  centered  its  woe  or  mirth — 

For  every  toiler  of  grim,  brown  hand, 

Tho'  across  the  sea  in  distant  land. 

Soon  found  that  wages  made  low  or  high — 

By  click  of  a  wire — in  vain  the  cry 

Of  praise  or  anger — 'twas  all  the  same — 

Till  they  came  to  fear  that  awful  name — 

Her  prince  was  their  prince — whose  wavy  hands 

Made  famine  or  plenty  o'er  all  the  lands. 

Clicking  of  cables  that  sent,  and  brought, 

The  changing  mood  of  the  Trader's  thought — 

The  buying  of  this — selling  of  that — 

As  stocks  climbed  up — or  were  falling  flat — 

Changeful  as  fever's  mad  pulses  throb — 

The  wild  "Hurrah!" — the  surprised  wild  sob — 

As  changing  figures  upon  the  wall 

Hissed  to  a  man:    ''You  have  lost  your  all!" 

And  standing  here,  in  high  gallery — 
Indeed  'twas  a  strange  weird  sight  to  see, 

39 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

For  not  a  nation  beneath  the  sun 

But  here  could  behold  a  trading  Son! 

The  quickest,  keenest,  the  sharpest  brains — 

Like  wild  beasts  gathered  for  spoils  and  gains — 

Each  man  for  himself  an  Ishmalite — 

Tho'  oft  times  in  cliques  they  formed  to  fight 

The  common  herd — and  yet  not  a  man 

Whenever  he  could  but  dared  to  plan 

And  sell  out  the  rest — or  the  clique  betray 

Though  his  brain  conceived  it  yesterday — 

For  each  had  a  price — and  he  who  payed 

Oft  bought — but  to  find  himself  betrayed! 

Some  men  cool  and  calm,  with  face  like  flint, 

But  hungry  at  heart,  and   fell   intent 

To  entrap  the  weak  and  sluggish  brain. 

To  lie,  defraud — for  getting  of  grain! 

Scarce  one  believed  what  the  other  said 

Of  stocks  or  bonds,   for  the  bolder  led 

The  weaker  to  ruin — "  'Twas  fair  and  square 

Trading  was  trading — one  came  not  there 

Unless  he  had  nerve  to  give  and  take 

The  stab  and  the  thrust  for  trading  sake 

For  who  so  foolish  as  to  believe 

Tale  of  a  trader — made  to  deceive'' — 

For  cruel,  venomous,  grasping  Greed 

Spawned  for  herself  such  a  cunning  breed 

Of  devilish  spider  webs  aweaving — 

For  human  loss  and  fell  deceiving; 

Men  without  honor  of  any  kind 

Whose  fairest  words  were  but  said  to  blind 

The  foolish  trusters. 

The  common  crowd 
At  such  grand  success  but  gasped  and  bowed — 
Hailing  such  as  Leaders — and  aped  their  ways — 

40 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHBIST. 

Laughed  at  their  cunning,  and  sang  their  praise- 
Looked  on  their  lying  as  wondrous  wise 
If  it  but  netted  a  golden  prize! 
Honored  them,  hailed  them — and  made  them  great 
At  home— abroad— The  Pillars  of  State! 
Acknowledged  lying  belonged  to  trade 
And  brain  who  the  "slickest  trick"  displayed 
"To  gull  his  brothers"  was  great  indeed — 
The  Public  to  wish  and  word  gave  heed — 
For  such  men  outside  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
The  loftiest,  noblest  traits  displayed — 
For  public  welfare  an  open  purse — 
Such  free  indeed  from  the  rabble's  curse — 
Hailed  by  the  mob — A  Liberal  man 
So  quick  to  aid  in  each  generous  plan 
For  public  pleasure — for  public  weal! 
And  what  if  such  man  did  lie  and  steal 
On  the  Board  of  Trade — it  was  only  right 
When  he  had  both  Bulls  and  Bears  to  fight — 
Men  who  were  just  as  savage  as  he 
Should  not  complain  of  ferocity. 

So  debauched  by  gain  was  the  human  mind 
Till  'twas  hard  on  the  circling  earth  to  find 
A  protesting  voice — e'en  the  Church  gave  in — 
"That  to  gamMe  on  Board  of  Trade  no  sinT 
The  Church  spread  wide  lap,  and  held  out  her  hand, 
She  begged,  and  she  whined,  she  would  fain  command 
Greediest  trader  to  give  up  his  gain — 
Blessing  and  Praising  her  Lord,  Trader's  brain 
Was  cunning  to  plan  and  bring  her  such  gold — 
So  Christ  love  in  the  Christian  Church  waxed  cold! 
For  the  Boys  and  the  Young  Men  saw  forsooth 
•Twas  of  little  worth  to  tell  of  the  truth! 
The  getting  of  Gold  be  the  one  sole  aim — 

41 


THE  OITT  OF  THE  AXTI-CHRIST. 

The  getting  no  matter  the  how  it  came — 
For  the  poor  despised  in  this  Church  of  God 
While  the  rich  could  rule  with  an  iron  rod. 

So  dehauched  the  manhood  of  every  land 
Till  'twas  hard  to  find  of  an  honest  hand — 
The  labor  of  hand  despised,  now  the  mind 
Must  some  quicker  way  to  a  fortune  find — 
Until  not  a  Church  in  the  wide,  wide  Earth 
But  drank  deep  of  Babylon's  joy  and  mirth — 
Greedily  drank  from  her  chalice  of  gain 
That  poisoned  the  heart — ^and  maddened  the  brain- 
Churches  wallowing — glorying  in  their  shame — 
Till  Judas  Iscariots  they  all  became 
More  reckless,  daring,  blasphemingly  bold — 
And  sold  Christ  again  for  Babylon's  gold. 
*  *  *  * 

For  men  had  lost  all  faith  in  God, 
They  laughed  at  His  chastising  rod — 
A  Heaven — a  hell — were  but  vain  thought 
By  which  the  crafty  Schoolmen  sought 
To  bind  men's  minds  to  bigot  views. 
And  fashion  them  as  they  may  choose. 

College  and  University 
Strove  with  each  other  as  to  see 
Who  would  be  first  in  the  mad  pace 
To  curse,  and  blast  the  human  Race! 
And  the  Professor  who  could  be 
The  baldest  in  his  blasphemy 
Had  won  indeed  the  laurel  bays 
The  public  press  all  quick  to  praise! 
So  scholars  strove  to  pick  new  flaws 
In  Prophet's  strain — Mosaic  laws — 
'Till  every  sentence  criticised 

42 


THE  OITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST, 

"With  hostile,  almost  hateful  eyes. 
And  hardly  passage  but  had  been 
The  butt  of  some  Professor's  spleen. 
And  no  recorded  incident 
But  some  audacious  scholar  spent 
His  learning  on  it — to  make  void — 
And  true  significance  destroyed! 

"We  Worship  Truth  r    Their  constant  cry. 

But  Truth  had  centered  to  their  eye 

What  they  would  have  the  Truth  to  be. 

Till  Truth  became  a  medley 

Without  beginning — without  end — 

As  Devils  only  comprehend. 

They  put  their  leprous  hand  of  hate 

On  every  page  to  desecrate, 

To  purge  from  passage,  and  from  line. 

The  trace  of  any  thought  Divine. 

In  fact  Professors  dared  to  be 

By  "Verifying  Faculty" 

As  much  inspired  as  men  God  chose 

Of  Eld — His  message#to  disclose. 

By  inference  'twas  plain  to  see 

Their  Heart's  desire  had  dared  to  be 

Like  as  to  Christ — if  not  more  wise! 

Self  luminous  in  their  own  eyes; 

For  grown  inflated  by  their  pride 

Cast  all  restraint  of  God  aside. 

And  deemed  some  Godhead  had  inspired 

The  Blasphemy  their  hearts  desired. 

Ah  'tis  a  task  impossible 

For  human  tongue  in  years  to  tell 

The  vile  things  that  they  did  relate — 

Professor  did  not  hesitate 

To  brand  whole  pages,  wilful  lies! 

43 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Till  it  became  to  students'  eyes 

A  book  bereft  of  any  Truth, 

A  book  of  countless  lies  in  sooth 

Framed  to  deceive  in  every  line — 

How  foolish  to  call  such  Divine! 

College  and  University 

Fruits  of  such  teaching  soon  could 

They  sent  a  spawn  of  preachers  forth 

"Who  with  Clown's  grace  made  ready  sport 

Of  sacred  things  to  make  men  smile — 

Ah,  it  was  but  a  little  while 

When  people  knew  such  could  not  bring 

A  message  from  Eternal  King! 

For  common  men  were  quick  to  see 

Their  words  were  hollow  blasphemy, 

Man  looked  on  all  they  said  as  lies. 

And  so  God's  Book  to  common  eyes 

Lost  all  its  sacredness — and  men 

Forgot  the  awfulness  of  Sin — 

For  none  with  an  authority 

Could  say  of  what  a  sin  may  be! 

"A  lie's  A  lie!"  no  matter  where, 

And  what  man  can  in  truth  declare 

That  God  would  countenance  a  lie? 

If  Preachers  said,  that  God  on  High 

Gave  such  a  book — men  were  not  fogls 

To  train  in  such  Germanic  schools — 

If  error  on  the  Sacred  page — 

If  but  men  spoke  in  early  age 

Simply,  Reformers  of  the  Race, 

And  Prophecy  had  there  no  place. 

Who  made  it  Sacred  and  Divine? 

And  who  may  dare  to  draw  the  line 

'Twixt  truth  and  error — shall  men  be 

Slaves  to  the  schoolmen's  subtility? 

44 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

And  this  the  ending,  that  men  grew 
Hard  in  their  wickedness — withdrew 
From  any  Christian  teaching — till 
Prince  Satan  had  his  daring  will 
To  lead  the  blind  mad  souls  astray 
Who  cast  the  Book  of  Truth  away. 
Men  Grouped  in  blindness  to  The  Night, 
They  looked  to  Satan  for  new  light, 
For  when  to  Christ  men  ceased  to  pray 
Prince  Satan  found  them  easy  prey. 
And  soon  upon  men's  souls  there  fell 
The  strong  Delusion,  spawned  of  hell. 
Men's  minds  were  darkened — men  became 
But  things  of  loathing  and  of  shame, 
As  Flames  of  Hate,  Death  could  not  quench. 
And  to  Christ's  nostrils  but  a  stench. 

Now  could  the  higher  Critics  see 
The  fruit  borne  by  their  Upas  Tree 
That  shadowing  every  Holy  thing 
rought  Death  in  is  incircling! 
«  «  * 

Babylon's  Prince  held  magician's  wand — 
His  great  gifts  gave  with  no  niggard  hand — 
And  every  morning  a  new  surprise 
Made  glad  his  adoring  subjects'  eyes. 
The  Glories  of  Rome,  behold,  once  more! 
With  splendor  that  mocked  the  days  of  yore — 
Such  Glories  as  all  the  Cassars  made 
Sprang  to  his  hand  in  a  short  decade! 
Bronzes  and  Marbles — Founts  and  Flowers — 
Parks  with  Grottoes  and  Mazzy  Bowers — 
Baths  of  Marble  with  spices  and  myrrh — 
Lo,  a  splendid  Amphitheater! 
Flashed  Colosseum  so  fair  to  see 

45 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

With  walls  and  columns  of  porphyry — 
Where  populace  came  as  well  as  court — 
Lo,  free  to  all  was  the  royal  sport! 
In  vast  arena  the  naked   men 
Strove  bravely  the  old  Greek  games  to  win; 
The  glittering  chariots  flashed  and  sped — 
Lo,  the  Gladiators  fought  and  bled! 
The  criminals  vile,  condemned  to  death. 
On  the  soft  white  sand  in  combat  met. 
And  he  the  last  victor  in  the  strife 
Had  won  to  himself  new  lease  of  life. 
Lo,  Criminals  here  had  chance  to  win 
The  boon  of  life  in  a  wild  beast  den — 
How  the  brutal  gazers  laughed  to  see 
The  wild  beasts  holding  high  revelry! 

Now  never  a  lustful  thought  of  man 
Is  here  restrained  by  a  law  or  ban — 
Ah,  Sodom  may  stand  appall'd  to  see 
Infamous  depths  of  Debauchery! 
Lo,  all  day  long  is  the  strife  for  greed 
Cheating  each  other  as  who  would  lead. 
And  through  all  night  long  the  eyes  may  see 
The  City  blaze  with  high  revelry! 

Thrice  accursed  Gold!  thy  lamp  of  flame 
Has  put  of  the  noblest  hearts  to  shame — 
No  matter  how  won — the  holder's  hand 
Is  courted  and  flattered  in  every  land! 
Lo,  Thou  hast  grown  in  these  latter  days 
A  God  to  worship,  that  all  men  praise. 
And  men  are  as  beasts  to  grasp  at  thee, 
Deeming  Thee  source  of  Felicity! 

The  Golden  City  of  Babylon 

Has  more  than  her  mead  of  Riches  won. 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Alluring  moths  to  her  fatal  blaze — 

She  to  all  men  the  desire  and  praise. 

Like  serpent  fold  is  the  grasping  Soul, 

Binding  each  thought  in  fell  control. 

And  Naboth's  vineyard  and  nothing  less 

Is  central  spot  of  all  happiness! 

The  pulses  beat  in  a  feverish  way, 

Fortunes  are  made  in  a  single  day. 

Guess  on  the  Future — tomorrow's  sun 

Will  flash  on  Palace  that  guess  had  won! 

A  Pauper,  an  hour  or  two  before 

He  swept  the  dust  from  the  princely  door, 

He  risked  his  wages — at  eventide 

As  master  to  him  were  the  doors  thrown  wide. 

Aye,  men  were  staggered  at  such  swift  things — 

With  paupers  one  hour — the  next  with  Kings — 

It  sent  swift  shafts  unto  every  brain. 

Old  maxims  treated  with  proud  disdain. 

The  slow  and  the  sure  were  thrust  aside — 

Lo,  barebacked  with  Chance  all  wished  to  ride! 

A  turn  of  the  wheel — and  lo,  there  came 

Wealth — that  put  wealth  of  Great  Kings  to  shame! 

Ah,  here  was  the  Golden  mile  stone  set. 

Here  the  converging  of  highways  met. 

Earth's  highways  thronged  with  the  rushing  feet» 

And  all  in  her  fatal  circle  meet. 

And  His,  aye  his,  was  the  princely  brain 

Who  planted  seed  for  such  golden  grain, 

He  watered  the  plants  whose  leaves  would  be 

A  healing  for  Poor  Humanity.    . 

This  hub  of  a  wheel  whose  shafts  ran  out 

To  icy  North — to  the  palm  clad  South — 

To  East— to  West— Lo,  the  Race  poured  in 

To  share  her  Gold,  her  folly,  her  sin! 


47 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

Came  the  rich,  the  poor,  the  young,  the  old. 
To  sell  their  labor — increase  their  Gold — 
Owned  it  by  Peasant — or  held  it  by  King, 
Lo,  here  was  a  mart  for  everything! 
Alas,  alas,  the  young  maidens  came 
To  barter  their  charms — all  dead  to  shame — 
Cherry  red  lips  and  lustrous  eye — 
Who  bids  the  highest? — whose  gold  will  buy? 
Alas,  what  is  honor  or  virtue  when 
A  Bastard  honored  the  first  of  men! 
Honor  and  Virtue — what  myths  are  they 
Darkening  the  light  of  the  latter  day! 
***** 

When  some  of  Israel  came  to  stand 

Once  more  upon  their  ancient  land. 

They  feared  they  may  become  the  prey 

Of  restless  tribes  that  'round  them  lay. 

Could  they  but  win  some  powerful  arm 

To  hold  their  riches  from  all  harm, 

Lo,  every  heart  turned  to  this  One — 

The  Peaceful  Prince  of  Babylon. 

A  man  whom  all  the  earth  revered, 

Surely  most  daring  King  had  fear'd 

To  hold  as  foe  whom  he  called  friend — 

In  him  their  wanderings  would  end. 

So   Israel's   Elders  came   to   make 

A  covenant  for  safety  sake. 

And  he  such  allies  rich  to  win. 

Only  too  glad  to  enter  in 

For  seven  years  The  Covenant. 

Then  Home  with  joy  The  Elders  went; 

Surely  all  wanderings  would  cease! 

Their  sworn  Friend — the  Prince  of  Peace! 

A  great  awakening  filled  the  race 

And  from  afar  men  turned  their  face 

48 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

To  seek  the  ancient  Home  again, 

And  find  a  solace  from  all  pain. 

Such  ample  wealth — such  cunning  brain — 

Their  land  cut  East  and  West  in  twain, 

The  gateway  for  the  World's  vast  trade, 

Toll  Gate  where  Nations  tribute  paid. 

Lo.  Babylon's  most  wealthy  men 

Were  surely  of  their  kith  and  kin, 

Qn  whom  the  Prince  could  well  rely 

For  aid  in  prospects  vast  and  high. 

Now  Palestine  no  more  a  place 
Of  jest  book  for  the  Gentile  Race, 
The  land  a  fruitful  garden  smiled. 
With  cities  on  fair  summits  piled; 
In  all  the  world  where  was  the  Race 
That  held  such  wealth  in  such  small  place? 
The  Gentile  Nations  with  surprise 
Turned  to  this  spot  their  wondering  eyes, 
Wonder  of  Wonders  to  behold. 
For  who  may  count  the  flood  of  gold 
To  builders'  hand — to  raise  once  more 
A  Temple — such  ne'er  seen  before! 
And  who  may  tell  of  that  high  day 
When  builder's  hand  had  ceased  to  play, 
And  the  wide  world  in  praises  ring 
As  High  Priest  came  with  offering. 

Two  thousand  years  had  rolled  away 
Since  last,  on  the  Atonement  day, 
Before  the  brazen  altar  stood 
The  Great  High  Priest  to  sprinkle  blood! 
Two  thousand  years!   what  memories  rise 
With  baleful  light  before  their  eyes — 
The  world  had  seen  them — to  despise, 

49 


THE  OITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Mocked  their  death  agony  and  cries! 
Had  trampled  them  with  mail  clad  feet 
More  vile  than  clay — for  dunghill  meet! 
Spit  on,  and  lashed,  and  desolate. 
Hated  to  death — yet  spite  of  hate — 
They  stood  at  last  'round  Zion's  hill. 
Jew — in  the  name  and  nature  still! 

One  surely  the  most  honored  guest —      , 
They  brought  the  Godliest  and  the  best 
To  Honor  Him!  and  in  their  words 
His  name  was  coupled  with  The  Lord's! 
The  Peaceful  Prince  of  Babylon 
Had  more  than  earthly  glory  won; 
And  the  oblation  that  they  gave 
Was  not  as  eaual — but  as  slave; 
No  nation  with  such  offering 
Before  had  honored  any  King! 
Their  orators  with  cunning  phrase 
Mingled  with  Blasphemy  their  praise! 

Lo,  was  it  this  awoke  within 

His  breast  a  brilliant  thought  of  sin — 

The  Tempter  found  an  instrument 

To  carry  out  a  fell  intent. 

For,  scarce  had  fled  rejoicing  day 

When  his  feet  trod  the  bloody  way. 

To  gain  that  dizzy  height  alone — 

To  sit  on  Caesar's  vacant  Throne! 

He  found  pretext  for  instant  war — 

Lo,  willing  hands  came  from  afar — 

Crowned  Him  with  victory  most  complete 

Egypt  and  Syria  at  his  feet! 

And  then  his  heart  with  haughty  pride 

Cast  foul  and  fair  pretext  aside; 

50 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHETST. 

No  longer  Prince  of  Peace  he  stood — 
But  splashed  with  foe  and  friendly  blood! 
Who  dare  oppose  his  sovereign  will — 
His  sword  was  swift  to  smite  and  kill; 
His  words  were  sweet — but  held  as  light 
As  thistle-down  in  his  own  sight; 
His  promises  none  dare  believe. 
His  words  of  friendship  none  receive; 
They  were  but  given  as  baits  to  l)ring 
His  victims  to  this  wily  King! 
The  World  arose  and  hailed  him  great — 
Ambassadors  around  him  wait — 
And  Europe  swift  he    gifts  to  bring 
To  this  Imperial  Conquering  King! 

But  here's  not  ours  to  chronicle 
How  nations  who  opposed  him  fell — 
When  Egypt,  Syria,  Greece  was  won, 
He  homeward  turned  to  Babylon! 

♦  ♦  *  *  •    ■         • 

One  day  to  Babylon's  market  Place 
Came  Beautiful  Youth  with  ruddy  face, 
Proclaimed  his  mission  with  wondrous  sign — 
His  words  were  as  draughts  of  fiery  wine. 
Whence  came  The  Thought? — at  first  confined 
Alone  to  the  fiery  zealot's  mind 
A  darling  wish  that  the  heart  conceived — 
Had  wished — had  loved — and  at  last  believed. 
As  draughts  of  wine  to  the  listening  brain 
They  heard  not  the  soft,  sweet  words  in  vain. 
As  leaves  are  Shivered  on  summer  tree 
He  stirred  the  hearts  of  the  human  sea! 
This  was  the  message  The  Prophet  brought: 
How  could  the  brain  that  such  wonder  wrought 
In  Art,  in  War — be  simply  a  man. 

51 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Could  human  brain  all  this  Glory  plan? 

Nay,  nay,  how  plainly  the  eye  must  see 

Their  Prince — not  man — but.  Deity! 

No  man  could  do  what  his  hand  had  done — 

If  there  were  Gods — He  indeed  the  Son! 

Come  let  them  then  sacrifice  and  see 

If  he  were  man — or  The  Deity! 

Prepare  the  altar,  and  oxen  bring. 

Themselves  to  prepare  the  offering. 

Lo,  at  the  mention  of  This  God's  name. 

He  would  bring  from  heaven  the  licking  flame 

To  burn  huge  oxen,  and  surely  show 

A  God  was  living  with  men  below! 

Yea,  their  own  hand  should  prepare  the  rite 

Open  and  plain  before  human  sight; 

Scientists  watch  that  no  fraud  may  bring 

A  hidden  fire  to  the  offering! 

Hark!   what  is  this  on  Babylon's  ear. 
Rising  swiftly,  distinct  and  clear. 
In  Palace  and  Hovel — from  every  side — 
A  thousand  voices  have  multiplied? 
Who  are  the  Criers?    Aye,  Christians  all. 
Not  lingering  long  where  their  feet  may  fall. 
Hurrying  on  as  swift  runners  go 
Who  bring  a  terrible  message  of  woe: 

*'Woe  to  the  one  who  in  him  Relieves! 
Woe  to  the  soul  who  his  mark  receives  I  ' 
Anguish  and  sorrow  shall  surely  he 
His  Portion  on  Earth — in  Eternity!'* 

Men  shrugged  their  shoulders  when  first  it  fell; 

"A  fanatic  craze — a  bagatelle!" 

A  cry  for  sneering,  and  laugh,  and  jest — 

52 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

The  day  past  by  and  there  was  no  rest! 
For  through  all  night  long  the  Criers'  feet 
Sounded  in  crowded  and  silent  street — 
Startled  men  up  from  the  needed  sleep-*- 
Shrill  in  the  Hall  where  wild  revels  sweep- 
Till  men  grew  savage  as  death  to  hear; 
Lo,  public  clamor  rose  sharp  and  clear, 
Then  shrieked  the  women  and  frenzied  men: 
**To  the  Ouillotinel    To  the  Lion's  den!" 
Lo,  e'er  the  rising  of  morning  sun 
Not  an  ear  but  heard  it  in  Babylon — 
Old  age,  and  manhood,  and  children  young. 
This  message  of  woe  from  many  a  tongue! 
In  home  all  squalid,  in  stately  hall, 
(Where  never  the  sound  of  woe  may  fall). 
In  Halls  of  Commerce — in  counting  rooms — 
In  Halls  of  Revels — in  place  of  tombs — 
It  startled  the  merchant  in  his  sharp  trade — 
It  made  the  thief  in  his  act  afraid — 
The  singer's  song  in  his  throat  had  died — 
The  Courtesan  dashed  her  price  aside — 
The  Priest  at  the  altar  trembling  shook — 
The  Reader  looked  up  from  enthralling  book — 
Beauty  shrank  back  from  reflecting  glass — 
Men  shrank  from  the  criers  and  let  them  pass! 
Down  at  the  Quay — where  the  great  ships  lay- 
White  wings  coming  and  going  away — 
When  men  of  all  nations  come  and  go. 
The  Criers  came  with  the  Cry  of  Woe! 
Each  man  looked  up,  for  in  mother  tongue 
On  each  man's  ear  the  fell  words  rung; 
The  Criers  were  many,  and  not  one  race 
But  saw  of  his  own  in  some  Crier's  face! 


53 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

Woe  to  the  one  who  in  him  Relieves! 
Woe  to  the  soul  who  his  mark  receives; 
Anguish  and  sorrow  shall  surely  he 
His  portion  on  Earth — in  Eternity! 

That  day  the  arena  sands  were  red — 
The  wild  beasts  on  flesh  of  Criers  fed — 
Till  gorged  with  blood  down  to  slumber  lay 
Where  Remnant  of  Criers  huddled  to  pray! 
No  Criers  that  night  in  Babylon — 
Her  ghastly  deed  had  a  silence  won! 
But  she  was  ablaze  with  high  revelry — 
Won  her  highest  mark  in  Debauchery! 
A  fever  pulse  was  in  every  brain — 
Unbridled  Passions  unchecked  by  rein — 
More  like  beasts  and  devils  than  human  men. 
In  open,  lascivious,  debasing  sin — 
And  women — Sweet  Pity — ah,  women  fair. 
Disrobed  of  all  womanly  thought  were  there! 

Lo,  of  a  sudden  a  change  was  wrought 
In  Atheist's  sneer — and   scoffer's  thought. 
'Twould  seem  as  a  hiding  veil  were  rent 
Displaying  Kingdom  of  vast  extent — 
Signs  unmistakable  everywhere 
Of  Beings  crowding  the  upper  air  — 
More  swift  than  the  wind — a  myriad  band — 
Locust  Host  o'er  that  beautiful  land. 
They  darkened  not  the  beautiful  light. 
They  hovered  not  mist  like  before  the  sight. 
But  all  men  knew  they  were  surely  there 
Making  the  earth  and  the  air  their  lair. 
Men  felt  in  this  strange  eventful  hour 
As  at  their  side  stood  an  outer  power 
Pleading  so  tenderly:     "Let  me  in 
And  thou  by  me  shall  all  blessings  win" 
64 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST.    . 

Men  willing  a  new  power  to  obtain, 

Winning  o'er  others  some  earthly  gain. 

Paused  not  to  question  if  this  were  sin 

But  let  the   unclothed   creatures  in! 

Men  shuddered  first  when  this  unclad  thing 

Entered  their  flesh  for  a  covering, 

But  the  piping  voice  so  full  of  cheer 

Soon  gave  them  pleasure  and  banished  fear; 

Men's  powers  were  quicken'd — their  senses  grew 

To  a  keener  point — somehow  they  knew 

Of  things  they  had  never  known  before 

Of  worldly  knowledge,  and  mystic  lore; 

Their  minds  grew  passive  to  this  fell  Guest 

Who  inspired  the  thoughts  within  their  breast. 

And  ofttimes  their  hands  stretched  out  to  do 

Some  act  that  their  inborn  sense  would  rue. 

Men's  minds  grew  passive — without  intent 

The  body  became  an  instrument 

To  act  the  abider's  wish  and  need — 

To  blindly  follow  where  it  may  lead! 

It  seemed  on  a  higher  plane  to  lift 

That  men  rejoiced  at  this  new  found  gift — 

Men's  powers  were  quickened  to  comprehend 

And  point  their  acts  to  a  quicker  end — 

They  bent  mea's  souls  to  a  narrow  ring 

Making  more  selfish  in  everything — 

Giving  the  passions  a  fuller  sway — 

Making  more  reckless  each  passing  day — 

The  glory  of  self — the  selfish  end — 

Betraying  if  needs  the  dearest  friend — 

The  baser  passions  had  stronger  flame 

In  gratification  knew  no  shame. 

Defiant  of  Law — a  reckless  thought 

That  never  a  higher  motive  sought 

Than  fleshly  pleasure — and  that  more  base 

55 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Than  known  before  to  the  human  race! 
Honesty!   Truth! — they  were  myths  indeed 
Of  which  human  souls  had  no  way  need. 
And  yet  a  pleasant  face  and  a  smile 
Clothed  the  heart  that  was  full  of  guile. 

Tho'  on  other  subjects  differing 
All  these  Guests  agreed  on  one  fell  thing — 
And  in  this,  their  highest  joy  was  won. 
The  praise  of  the  Grod  of  Babylon! 

The  Prophet's  words  fell  on  fruitful  place 
Tho'  varied  indeed  the  tribe  and  race 
That  heard  of  his  message — one  and  all 
Ready  to  Hail!  and  worshiping  fall. 
And  this  fell  union  did  only  bind 
The  many  millions — where  may  one  mind 

In  any  city  beneath  the  sun 

Rule  every  mind  as  in  Babylon; 

So  the  Prophet's  words  were  quick  to  win — 

The  thought  was  pleasant,  it  suited  men 

To  have  a  God  who  would  pleasure  give — 

Living  Himself  as  they  would  live. 

Lo,  an  old  vision  comes  back  again — 

An  image  stands  upon  Dura's  plain! 

Around  it  flowing  a  living  sea 

Of  watching,  waiting  humanity. 

Famed  Scientists  there  to  watch  and  tell 

If  this  would  indeed  be  miracle, 

Men  who  for  knowledge  all  men  applaud. 

Keen  to  scrutinize  trick  and  fraud. 

An  altar  is  garnished — the  oxen  stand 

Ready  for  Death  at  the  Priestly  hand — 

56 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Waiting  are  all  for  the  Prophet's  sign 
To  prove  their  Prince  was  indeed  Divine! 
The  sign  is  given — the  oxen  bled — 
The  altar  with  warm  fitsh  is  fed — 
Men  are  all  silent  with  bated  breath — 
Standing  as  Images  carved  in  Death. 
Lo,  there  the  Prophet  all  grandly  stands. 
Lifts  to  the  Image  his  outstretched  hands, 
Prays  to  the  Image  to  give  a  sign 
To  waiting  world  of  a  Prince  Divine! 

Lo!   of  a  sudien  on  altar  came 

Tongues  of  living  and  forked  flame! 

Its  pathway  from  heaven  each  eye  could  trace 

Devouring  the  flesh  on  the  altar  place! 

Full  in  sight  of  the  watching  crowd — 

Who  in  prayer  and  adoration  bowed! 

Their  Prince  was  God! — now  none  dare  dispute — 

Clear  to  each  eye  was  the  living  truth — 

No  longer  as  Prince — but  as  God  his  sway — 

Before  his  image  they  knelt  to  pray! 

Now  were  his  images  multiplied 
Of  Gold  and  Silver — on  every  side. 
Odorous  Incense  the  worshipers  bring — 
His  praises  white  robed  acolytes  sing. 
Hands  of  Engravers  were  cunning  to  trace 
On  rings  and  diamonds  his  glory  of  face. 
Pins,  amulets,  charms  in  tribute  were  laid — 
On  breasts,  in  ears,  on  the  fingers  display'd. 

Homeward  again  came  The  God  of  their  praise — 
To  give  him  welcome  all  hearts  were  ablaze! 
Lavish  and  costly  the  gifts  men  brought 
To  Glorify — honor  the  only  thought' 

67 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Sculptors  and  Artists  of  world  wide  fame 
Here    as    coworkers   all    gladly    came, 
Worked  with  a  cunning  and  gladness  of  heart — 
Made  him  an  arch  of  most  marvelous  art. 
Arch  of  all  arches — his  story  portray'd — 
Pure  gold  with  diamonds  and  jewels  inlaid — 
The  flood  of  its  glory  a  brilliancy  won 
Sparkling  and  rivaling  the  light  of  the  sun. 
Ah,  'twas  a  gladsome  and  glorious  day 
Business  was  banished — pleasure  held   sway — 
The  Prince,  the  beggar — all  went  to  see — 
To  greet  with  praises  their  Deity! 
And  not  a  dwelling  however  poor 
But  had  his  image  above  the  door. 
And  shrine  where  tapers  and  incense  burned; 
In  streets,  high  altars,  where  e'er  one  turned; 
Festoons  of  drapery  everywhere — 
Lo,  silken  flags  to  gladden  the  air — 
With  cannons  booming — with  music  gay — 
With  millions  lining  the  coming  way. 

Lo,  every  Nation  under  the  sun 
Ambassadors  sent  to  Babylon, 
To  show  their  respects,  and  presents  bring. 
To  honor  the  Babylonish  King! 

The  Prophet  went  with  a  priestly  throng 
To  welcome  him  home  with  praise  and  song. 
Trumpets  blowing — and  cymbals  clashing — 
White  robes  radiant  with  diamonds  flashing — 
To  meet  him  outside  the  city  gate. 
Where  altars  were  raised  in  grandly  state —    ' 
Where  oxen,  white  as  the  driven  snow. 
Flower  decked  were  waiting  the  priestly  blow. 
Lo,  in  the  distance  with  martial  tread — 

58 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

A  thousand  banners  above  the  head — 
His  mail  clad  host  with  glad  music  came — 
Chanting  glad  songs  of  his  glorious  fame! 
Grand  Trophies  bringing  of  glorious  war — 
Chained  men  and  women  of  lands  afar — 
Kings  captive  bound  as  in  olden  days 
Adding  their  tribute  to  martial  praise! 

Lo,  when  he  came  where  the  altars  stood 
A  thousand  knives  drank  the  oxen's  blood, 
Lo,  altars  piled  where  the  wild  fires  rise 
To  their  God — a  fitting  Sacrifice! 
The  Prophet  hailed  him  as  Lord  and  Goff! 
Down  in  the  dust  where  their  feet  had  trod 
Bent  every  face — till  he  stood  alone — 
Their  Lord  and  God  on  resplendent  throne! 
Worshiped  him  there  as  their  God  divine. 
With  many  a  rite  and  wondrous  sign. 

Onward,  the  populace  still  to  greet — 
Triumphant  rode  through  the  festooned  street — 
Troops  of  fair  maidens  his  praises  sing. 
Their  hair  as  their  only  covering, 
Fair  naked  women  that  knew  no  shame 
Rose  strewing  the  way  where  his  horses  came! 
Where  e'er  he  came  the  adoring  crowd 
Fell  on  their  faces  praying  aloud; 
Behind  him  thronging  with  loud  acclaim 
Priests  and  multitudes  singing  his  Fame! 
'Mid  salvos  of  cannon  and  rockets  blaze — 
'Mid  thunderous  shouting  of  human  praise — 
In  the  Palace  of  gold  and  porphyry  trod — 
Proud   Babylon's   King   as   Babylon's   God! 

Now  openly  to  human  ears, 

A  Doctrine  that  for  many  years 

59 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Lay -in  his  heart  he  did  profess — 
Prince  Satan's  power  he  did  confess 
With  wondrous  oratory — he  told 
Of  secret  things — and  waxen  bold: 
Proclaimed  Jehovah  was  man's  foe 
That  every  blessing  here  below 
Came  from  Prince  Satan. 

Once,  alone. 
Stood  Satan  at  Jehovah's  throne 
And  told  him  to  his  cruel  face 
He  should  not  crush  the  human  race! 
In»the  beginning  of  all  time 
Jehovah  by  his  daring  crime 
Usurped  o'er  all  a  despot's  sway — 
For  in  the  olden,  golden  day 
The  Gods  were  many — they  were  kind — 
And  only  had  it  in  their  mind 
To  bless  Humanity — till  he. 
Vindictive  Jah,  conspired  to  be 
The  Lord  of  all  and  fain  would  bend 
All  of  the  Gods  to  his  fell  trend! 
But  Satan,  loving  justice,  rose 
This  cruel  monster  to  oppose. 
And  fought  him  single  handed  there 
With  grim  defiance — aye,  despair — 
For  all  were  with  Jah — treachery 
Alas!  had  won  the  victory! 
Satan  from  heights  of  Heaven  was  thrown 
An  outcast  God — and  all  alone. 
But  soon  angelic  Hosts,  dismayed 
At  the  vile  wrath  that  Jah  displayed 
In  all  his  rulings,  took  affright — 
Some  bowed  all  servile — some  took  flight 
To  own  the  one  they  knew  was  right — 
Prince  Satan!  Harbinger  of  Light. 

60 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

For  ages  rolled  the  battle — man. 

The  prize  that  either  wished.    Jah's  plan, 

To  rule  by  fear,  and  sent  a  Son 

Upon  the  earth  to  tell  the  race 

That  Earth,  a  miserable  place. 

False  and  deceiving  to  the  eyes. 

And  verily  in  upper  skies 

Where  happiness  alone  could  be 

To  sinful,  lost  Humanity! 

That  Human  pleasure  but  a  snare — 

That  Woman's  breasts,  and  eyes,  and  hair. 

Were  lustful  pitfalls — where  the  feet 

Would  surely  swift  destruction  meet. 

Who  wished  for  such  had  no  escape. 

That  Hell  was  standing  wide  agape 

Where  everlasting  fires  would  burn 

And  they  as  wretched  worms  would  turn! 

All  human  passions,  lust  and  filth. 

To  such  enjoy  a  heinous  guilt. 

That  love  for  Human  kind  was  base 

That  better  far  the  human  race 

Should  crush  desire,  the  will,  the  mind. 

And  in  hope  of  far  Heaven  to  find 

A  perfect  Happiness. 

The  Jews 
His  ghastly  doctrine  did  refuse — 
For  he  would  fill  the  world  with  woe — 
Make  charnal  house  of  all  below — 
And  so  thought  best  to  end  a  life 
That  would  engender  Hate  and  Strife! 
The  Jews  were  wise — and  justice  laid 
Its  hands  on  him — cried  undismayed: 
"His  Blood  Be  On  Us!" 


61 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Righteousness 
To  slay  such  one  and  nothing  less! 
A  Holy  action  none  denied — 
When  Liar  Christ  was  crucified! 

But  Jah  was  not  to  be  denied 
Tho'  on  the  cross  his  servant  died — 
A  deeper  plot  sprang  to  his  brain 
That  his  Christ  should  not  die  in  vain. 
But  by  his  subtility  and  power 
Proclaimed  this  was  victorious  hour, 
That  Christ  was  victor  o'er  the  grave. 
So  that  in  future  he  could  save 
Whoe'er  believed  in  him! 
In  Hatred,  and  in  vengeance  grim. 
He  preached  a  bitterness  and  woe 
O'er  all  the  earth — all  joy  made  void — 
The  Happiness  of  Earth  destroyed! 
Lo!    misery  triumphant  strode 
Wherever  man  made  his  abode 
And  let  the  Cross  fly  o'er  his  head! 
With  fears  all  human  hearts  were  fed 
For  bitter,  bitter,  weary  days, 
Wherever  Priests  the  dead  Christ  praise! 
The  tyrant  Jah  upon  his  throne — 
The  murderer  of  men — alone 
Looks  down  upon  the  world  to  gloat — 
(With  a  grim  laugh  within  his  throat) 
On  human  misery — their  pains 
And  the  fell  rattle  of  their  chains 
To  him  all  music — he  would  crush 
A  million,  as  one  would  a  rush. 
To  gratify  a  passing  whim! 
For  the  vast  world  is  but  to  him 
A  stage  of  ghastly  tragedy. 

62 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

He  looks  with  leering  laugh  to  see 

If  one  is  happy — then  he  sends 

Some  Harpie  to  perform  base  ends. 

Turning  the  laugh  to  bitter  cry — 

He  watches  all  with  cruel  eye 

To  blast,  to  rend,  to  devastate. 

He  shows  an  everlasting  hate 

To  Human  Happiness — Destroys 

The  prattling  babe — the  girls — the  boys — 

Thrusts  youth  beneath  the  coffin  lid — 

'Neath  grave  clods  fairest  faces  hid — 

The  Bridegroom  laughs  at  blushing  Bride 

E'er  touches  lips — they're   dashed  aside — 

And  where  the  Lute  and  Harp  should  ring 

There  is  the  shriek  of  suffering! 

Lo!   now  for  near  six  thousand  years 

The  world  is  rent  with  maddening  fears — 

Dread,  Death,  and  Devastation  vast. 

Black  shadows  on  the  world  have  cast. 

If  Jah  loved  men — why  is  it  so? 
Decay,  Destruction,  Death  and  Woe — 
Where  Horrors  on  grim  Horrors  tread — 
Grief  unabashed  lifts  up  its  head 
And  shrieks  its  hatred  in  men's  ears — 
Why  this  for  near  six  thousand  years? 
When  Jah  could  wipe  such  all  away 
In  the  brief  sunshine  of  a  day, 
And  fill  the  world  with  joy  and  mirth — 
And  this  a  happy  laughing  Earth. 

Simply — because  he  hates  the  race! 
Fain  would  he  crush,  blast  and  efface 
In  fell  destruction  and  disgrace 
The  light  and  joy  from  human  face! 

63 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

But  ever  friend — true  friend  to  men. 
Prince  Satan  dared  the  fight  to  win. 
For  centuries  he  waged  the  strife 
To  give  to  men  immortal  life. 
To  alleviate  all  human  woes. 
To  crush  the  thorn  and  plant  the  rose. 
To  break  the  whip,  and  chain,  and  stave. 
Give  wine  the  thirsty  lips  to  lave. 
To  give  the  human  passion  space — 
Enjoy  a  kiss — and  lovely  face — 
Give  juicy  meat  instead  of  crust — 
Proclaim  to  man  it  was  not  lust 
To  dream  of  women — and  to  kiss 
With  lips  of  fire — and  not  a  miss 
To  drink  pressed  grapes  inspiring  draught- 
That  all  earth's  passions  could  be  quaffed 
Without  the  gruesome  thought  that  hate 
For  that  would  blast  and  desolate. 

And  Lo!  such  fighting  not  in  vain. 
The  Angels  in  Jehovah's  train 
Grow  weary  of  his  ghastly  reign — 
Sick  of  men's  misery  and  pain — 
Each  year  desert  him — until  he 
Soon  will  decrepit  Tyrant  be 
Minus  of  Power — where  years  before 
The  millions  his  fell  Banner  bore 
Now  a  grim  silence  settling  down. 
He  knows  that  soon  the  Victor's  crown 
Shall  rest  on  Kingly  Satan's  head — 
That  Satan  the  maligned  shall  be 
Adored  by  all  Humanity! 
That  men  shall  see  with  wild  surprise — 
The  mists  of  ages  from  their  eyes 
Roll  as  a  fog  from  sunlit  sea, 

64 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Then  with  wild  rapture  shall  they  see 

Prince  Satan  King — alone  supreme! 

And  olden  superstitious  dream 

Writ  in  the  book  but  wilful  lies 

So  that  the  human  may  despise 

Prince  Satan.     He  their  friend  alone 

Who  dared  Jehovah  on  his  throne! 

Prince  Satan  in  a  little  time 

Shall  win  his  purposes  sublime 

And  will  drive  Jah  from  his  higher  place 

And  banish  unto  outer  space — 

Then  Satan  shall  reveal  his  face 

In  blessing  to  the  Human  Race. 

And  quickly  men  believed  the  lie. 
Each  with  the  other  did  outvie 
As  who  most  costly  gift  would  bring 
To  honor  Satan  as  their  King. 
From  their  munificence  there  rose 
A  place  where  Satan  may  repose 
In  gracious  state — a  palace  fair 
Where  all  things  costly,  rich,  and  rare 
Were  given  with  most  lavish  hand. 
Lo!  the  vast  riches  of  the  land 
With  joy  spread  out  to  his  commands, 
All  gladly  given  to  Satan's  hands. 

And  Satan's  shrine  a  holy  place 
Where  knelt  the  rich  ones  of  the  race 
In  adoration,  joy,  and  praise. 
Revived  again  the  old  Greek  days — 
And  naked  women  danced  before 
The  Portals  of  a  Golden  door. 
Where  to  a  secret  chamber  went 
Alone  the  Man  God  with  intent 


65 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Of  secret  adoration — He 

Beheld  indeed  the  majesty 

Of  Satan's  form;  as  high  Priest  stood 

Poured  at  his  feet  a  wondrous  flood 

Of  Jewel  splendor — and  while  men 

Worshiped  the  Man  God — he  within 

Worshiped  Prince  Satan — he  alone 

Could  see  the  Presence  on  the  throne — 

So  Satan  in  his  secret  place 

Was  worshiped  by  the  Human  Race. 

The  Palace  where  Satan  revealed  his  face 
Of  unique  design — and  the  human  race 
With  never  a  finger  had  made  a  trace, 
Nor  had  they  conceived  of  such  dwelling  place. 
But  yet  one  may  see  that  a  close  design 
Was  followed  from  pages  of  Book  Divine, 
And  an  aping  of  such  the  eyes  may  see 
Of  the  City,  that  John  proclaimed  would  be 
A  crystal  suspended  in  upper  air — 
A  Pyramid  City  of  stones  all  rare. 
This  Palace  arose  like  a  beautiful  thought — 
As  magical  fingers  in  tracery  wrought — 
And  the  men  who  built  it  could  never  tell 
How  their  fingers  fashioned — there  was  a  spell 
Of  another  power  over  brain  and  hand, 
As  dreamers  worked  they  at  a  strange  command. 
A  cunning  not  theirs  by  their  fingers  wrought, 
A  workmanship  never  by  human  taught — 
Controlled  by  a  power  they  could  not  see 
They  fashioned  and  shaped  all  mysteriously. 
Came  to  Builders  and  Gazers,  the  biting  thought- 
Prince  Satan  conceived,  and  his  angels  wrought! 

Blazing  in  Jewels  upon  the  door 

The  Emblems,  worshiped  in  days  of  yore 

66 


THE  CITY  OP  THE  ANTI-CHRIST, 

That  filled  the  world  with  a  slimy  sea — 
A  stench  to  High  Heaven — of  Debauchery! 
Of  a  sudden  the  worship  of  these  vile  things 
From  paupers'  hovel  to  palace  of  Kings, 
The  costlier  rings  and  amulets  made 
In  shape  of  such  things — by  women  displayed 
On  fingers  and  breasts — no  blushing  of  cheek 
At  home  nor  abroad,  of  such  things  to  speak 
With  utmost  of  freedom.  Prince  Satan's  Design 
Kissed,  honored  and  worshiped — and  held  as  Divine. 
*  *  *  * 

Lo,  Europe  swift  allegiance  gave — 

Hail'd  Him  Their  Lord  on  land  and  wave! 

Her  navies  and  her  armies  swore 

Allegiance  to  Him  evermore — 

Ambassadors  from  foreign  lands 

With  costliest  gifts  in  willing  hands 

From  every  nation — at  his  feet 

To  pour  their  adulations  sweet. 

And  Lo  the  World  as  in  far  yore 

The  Roman  Earth  beheld  once  more 

In  one  vast  Empire — Caesar's  throne 

Had  but  one  candidate  alone — 

Amid  the  wildest  of  applause 

To  shape  divine  and  Earthly  Laws — 

The  Nations  mad  with  one  desire 

Rolled  like  an  avalanche  of  fire 

To  place  him  on  that  throne  and  sing 

Wild  praises  to  Their  God— Their  King! 

He — most  defiantly  wickedly  trod 

On  every  law  of  Jehovah  God 

Where  ever  'twas  "Yea" — He  gave  his  "2Vo/" 

And  to  God's  "No" — gave  "It  shall  be  soT 

His  one  darling  wish  was  to  efface 

67 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

God's  Word  from  the  mind  of  human  race — 

By  devilish  act — by  word  of  mouth — 

Designs  of  hatred  were  carried  out! 

Yea,  every  stigma  and  act  of  shame 

He  strove  to  wed  to  the  Christly  name — 

To  erase  the  term — that  none  may  see — 

And  stamp  Himself  on  Humanity! 

Lo,  men  were  eager  His  will  to  do, 

No  matter  the  deed — unswervingly  true — 

Blood  thirsty — cruel  that  Devilish  throng — 

Lo,  Christ  the  butt  of  the  mocker's  song! 

His  praise  all  eager — willing  to  win — 

Pillaging — slaughtering  Christian  men — 

Hopeless  women  and  tenderest  child. 

Knew  of  no  mercy  from  bigots  wild! 

Lo,  every  tortuous  instrument 

That  Genius  of  Hell  could  well  invent. 

Was  wrought  for  wracking  the  human  frame. 

Thus  to  blot  from  earth  Christ's  hated  name! 

Filled  many  a  home  with  bitter  pain, 

For  the  closest  ties  were  rent  in  twain. 

The  husband  was  of  the  wife  afraid. 

The  parents  oft  by  the  child  betrayed. 

And  lo,  because  of  the  Christ  confessed — 

The  babe  that  sucked  life  from  mother's  breast 

Now  fair  maiden  grown — was  thrust  aside — 

The  gaunt,  wild  beasts  were  well  satisfied! 

And  he,  the  lover  so  fond  of  eld. 

That  now  in  strong  circling  arms  held 

His  wedded  wife,  aye,  his  more  than  life — 

Cast  her  to  the  guillotine  sharp  knife! 

In  young  and  in  old  there  seemed  to  be 

A  new  born  soul  of  fell  bigotry — 

Who  ever  may  dare  this  God  despise 

Most  worthy  of  death  in  human  eyes! 

68 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

For  this  New  God  held  humanity 

With  a  power  all  wonderful  to  see. 

In  thought,  and  in  act,  their  life  to  lay 

Down  at  his  feet,  as  if  potter's  clay. 

Lo,  the  cross,  the  gibbet  and  the  sword — 

The  red  flames  leaped  up  to  greet  his  word — 

And  Nero's  torches  flared  up  once  more 

More  brilliant  than  in  the  days  of  yore! 

The  wild  beasts  as  drunk  with  hot  life  blood, 

Now  gorged,  laid  down  where  the  victims  stood. 

For  not  a  savage  or  cruel  beast 

But  had  too  much  of  this  Christian  feast! 

A  sickening  odor  was  in  the  air — 

The  blood  of  Christians  was  everywhere — 

And  not  a  hill,  nor  a  mound  to  see 

Without  its  cross  where  pale  victim  be! 

Lo,  Christian  suffering  was  everywhere — 

All  Europe  seemed  as  a  wild  beast's  lair — 

Strewn  with  human  bodies  torn  by  hate — 

A  world  of  all  Christians  desolate! 

Once  more  his  face  to  the  inland  sea 
With  all  of  Imperial  Deity, 
A  higher  place  in  men's  eyes  to  fill — 
As  God  in  Temple  on  Zion's  hill! 
He  entered  the  Temple  sword  in  hand — 
He  should  in  Holy  of  Holies  stand — 
Opposing  Priests  at  the  altar  slain — 
The  veil  of  the  Holy  cut  in  twain — 
Where  only  the  High  Priest  entered  in 
Once  a  year,  for  confession  of  sin, 
Bearing  shed  blood — in  that  empty  space 
Where  Maker  and  Man  stood  face  to  face! 
And  right  where  the  Mercy  seat  should  be 
Planted  his  throne  of  Iniquity. 

69 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

(A  blaze  of  jewels  that  wondrous  throne). 

Proclaiming  Himself  the  God  alone! 

The  white  robed  acolothist  anthems  sing — 

The  golden  censors  of  spices  swing — 

Priests  leading  people  prostrated  fall — 

They  hail  him  their  God,  "THE  LORD  OF  ALL!' 

But  here  is  not  ours  to  chronicle 

The  wrongs  that  to  Israel  Race  befell — 

For  all  who  wotshiped  him  not  became 

As  things  of  loathing,  and  wrath,  and  shanje! 

Surely  alone  it  was  Satan's  brain 

Conceived  such  exquisite  sense  of  pain, 

Wherewith  its  helpless  prey  to  enthrall — 

To  just  let  it  live,  and  that  was  all! 

Like  Chemist  over  a  crucible 

He  watched  how  their  terrors  rose  and  fell, 

A  Caldron  vast  was  that  Jewish  land 

He  seething  the  Race  with  demon's  hand! 

What  Rumor  is  this  the  East  wind  brings? 

The  gathering  Hosts  of  Barbarian  Kings! 

Arousing  of  Nations  with  one  aim — 

Who  brings  such  rumors  is  laughed  to  shame. 

When  one  gnat  comes  of  a  summer  day 

Lo,  'tis  imperiously  brushed  away, 

But  what  if  they  darken  all  the  air 

The  whir  of  their  wings  heard  everywhere? 

Men  held  it  light  as  a  thing  of  scorn. 

Like  mists  that  becloud  the  early  morn, 

That  the  glorious  sun  could  so  soon  dispel — 

None  dreamed  a  thought  but  that  all  was  well! 

For  who  may  heed  of  a  rumor  vague. 

A  childish  fear  of  a  far  off  plague, 

For  woe  to  the  foe  whose  acts  had  won 

70 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

The  wrath  of  the  God  of  Babylon! 
Men  made  it  a  jest  and  went  their  way 
Like  hunters  that  search  for  things  of  prey, 
Fair  Truth  and  Righteousness  ever  slain 
Buying,  selling  and  getting  of  gain! 
So  the  days  rolled  on — but  ever  came 
More  startling  rumors — and  ever  the  same — 
Nations  arousing  with  one  sole  thought — 
The  sacking  and  wrecking  of  Babylon  sought! 
Surely  the  rumors  at  last  proved  true. 
Every  Doubter  in  Babylon  knew — 
With  prancing  of  steeds — one  vast  array — 
The  Barbarians  for  plunder  were  on  their  way! 
Was  there  in  Babylon  thought  of  fear 
As  the  swift  horses  brought  foemen  near? 
'Twould  be  but  to  them  a  glorious  sight — 
Would  whet  satiated  appetite! 

The  merchant  Kings  had  a  glorious  time 
They  sold  the  Barbarians'  bones  for  lime, 
Bartered  in  future  as  what  may  be 
The  yield  from  the  fields  that  their  blood  would 
A  thought  for  Trading — ''Say,  ivho  will  take 
A  chance  if  only  for  trading  sake. 
As  how  many  days  it  toould  take  their  King 
To  give  his  wild  heasts  an  offerings 
A  thing  for  trading,  unique  and  strange 
Chances  were  sold  on  "the  open  change." 
E'en  women  dabbled  in  this  new  thing — 
How  much  a  Barbarian's  head  would  bring? 
Their  marches  were  sold  as  a  horse's  pace. 
How  long  e'er  they  reached  a  given  place. 
Each  day  were  the  chances  bought  and  sold — 
Vast  was  the  sum  of  the  changing  gold. 


71 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

So  days  rolled  on  with  a  quicker  pace. 
Like  horseman  bent  on  a  reckless  race 
Hetdless  and  careless  to  where  he  bore — 
Babylon  ne'er  was  so  gay  before! 
'Twould  seem  as  sin  took  more  deadly  hue, 
Man  strove  with  fellow  for  something  new 
That  would  outrage  every  law  of  heaven, 
Alone  by  the  vilest  passions  driven. 
The  cords  of  Humanity  cut  loose, 
The  World  seemed  given  to  vile  abuse. 
As  vile  as  the  vilest  hell  may  be — 
The  City  stank  with  Depravity! 
Scorning  the  curtains  that  hid  them  in 
The  streets  were  alive  with  naked  sin, 
In  lascivious  dance — a  curse  to  see — 
A  maelstrom  of  shameless  infamy! 
'Twould  seem  as  women  were  wed  to  sin, 
Each  strove  with  the  other  as  who  would  win- 
No  sewer  of  Hell  more  vile  to  see — 
Babylon  one  vast  monstrosity! 
Nor  was  it  the  vile  or  base  alone 
Who  sinned  whether  sun  or  moonlight  shone. 
But  they  who  were  reckoned  of  high  degree 
Were  the  foremost  beasts  in  this  revelry. 
Women  did  even  with  men  outvie; 
And  the  brain  was  racked  as  who  should  try 
To  conceive  a  newer,  fresher  crime, 
To  sink  men  down  in  a  lower  slime! 
And  he  was  hailed  with  a  new  delight 
Who  could  bring  more  daring  sin  to  sight — 
A  Victor  crowned,  till  another  came 
And  claimed  as  right  that  infamous  Fame! 

Of  a  sudden  fell  a  noisome  sore 
On  men  and  women,  as  ne'er  before 

72 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Was  seen  on  earth — 'twas  a  horrid  thing — 
The  City  shrieked  in  its  suffering! 
And  it  spared  not  one,  this  noisome  pest, 
From  sucking  child  on  the  mother's  breast 
To  aged  sinner — all  bent  and  gray — 
How  bitter  the  wails  on  this  awful  day! 
Who  e'er  the  mark  of  His  number  bore 
Was  seen  on  the  flesh  this  noisome  sore. 
Who  e'er  had  bent  the  imploring  knee 
Proclaiming  his  Godhead's  Majesty! 
Then  woe  to  the  man  who  had  it  not — 
A  Sign  of  Life  was  that  noisome  spot — 
What  men  slew  not  the  fierce  wild  beasts  tore 
Till  all  were  glad  to  display  that  sore! 
And  boasting  Science  to  ease  the  pain 
Saw  all  its  remedies  tried  in  vain. 
Shamefaced  they  stood  before  all  the  land — 
Dared  not  acknowledge  'twas  God's  own  hand! 
It  made  men — if  that  were  possible — 
More  darker,  deeper  children  of  Hell — 
E'en  Hell  may  blush  of  their  acts  to  see — 
The  air  was  heavy  with  Blasphemy! 

What  story  this  from  the  restless  sea 

Of  waters  becalmed — no  waves  to  see — 

No  ebbing,  flowing,  no  tide,  nor  flood? 

But  stagnant  all  as  a  dead  man's  blood. 

What  cry  is  this  on  Euphrates'  tide 

Rolling  to  sea  in  its  lordly  pride? 

At  very  fountain  of  life  'tis  slain — 

As  blood  stands  still  in  a  dead  man's  vein! 

The  beautiful  river  stagnant  lay — 

A  putrid  thing  in  the  blaze  of  day — 

A  horrible  stench — a  dank  perfume — 

As  comes  from  decay  in  dead  men's  tomb! 

73 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

And,  Lo,  where  glad  fountains  leaped  before 
The  basins  ran  o'er  with  slimy  gore, 
Pavements  mosaic  where  beauty  trod — 
Where  children  played  on  the  grassy  sod; 
And  Drunkard  who  scorned  such  boon  before 
For  draught  of  water  the  Gods  implore, 
The  wine  cup  became  a  loathsome  thing 
Crushed  'neath  his  heel  in  his  suffering; 
A  cry  in  the  air  of  a  great  despair — 
A  Famine  of  Water  everywhere! 
Frenzied  they  search  for  some  hidden  spring— 
*Tis  found — but  to  mock  their  suffering; 
The  sky  reflected  in  angry  glare — 
The  red  clotted  Blood  was  everywhere! 
Blood!  Blood!  where  ever  the  eye  was  turned — 
A  sight  that  the  fleeing  foot  ne'er  spurned — 
The  very  moisture  in  every  street 
Had  turned  to  blood  and  bedabbled  the  feet! 
The  bloody  footprints  were  everywhere, 
In  dens  all  foul,  and  in  palace  fair; 
Dewdrop  that  before  in  morning  light 
Flashed  on  the  leaves  as  if  diamonds  bright, 
Now  dripped  and  fell  on  the  passer's  head 
The  clammy  drops  of  a  sickening  red! 
And  not  one  blossom  on  flowery  bed 
But  blood  heavy  hung  its  beauteous  head. 
Bedabbled  with  blood — the  rank  perfume 
As  smell  of  dead  in  an  open  tomb! 
Where  ever  water  had  stood  before 
Now  in  its  place  a  clodding  of  gore; 
Whatever  the  food  with  water  made 
Now  streaks  of  globular  blood  betrayed. 
Blood  in  the  hovel  and  stately  place, 
Blood  on  the  hands,  red  blood  on  the  face. 
On  cotton  gown,  and  on  velvet  dress, 

74 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

On  silken  sheen  of  all  loveliness; 

On  beggar's  palm  and  on  princely  hand, 

On  courtesan  vile  and  Lady  grand, 

On  beauties'  cheek  where  soft  moisture  came, 

No  matter  where — 'twas  ever  the  same! 

(They  had  thirsted  before  for  Christian  blood 

Their  victims  yielded  a  generous  flood; 

Let  them  drink  of  blood  and  the  food  they  eat 

Be  mingled  with  blood  between  their  teeth!) 

What  cry  is  this?    What!  a  new  despair? 
From  million  lips:     "Oive  us  air!  give  us  air!" 
From  cellars  damp — in  the  crowded  street 
Came  sudden  rush  of  a  million  feet — 
The  streets  were  full  of  blaspheming  men — 
Where  the  weak  went  down — tho'  their  own  kin — 
And  women  and  children  trod  beneath 
The  rushing  and  surging  of  maddening  feet; 
They  fought  like  wild  beasts  for  open  space — 
They  took  no  heed  of  a  friendly  face — 
But  with  cursing  lips  and  striking  hand 
They  strove  in  some  cooling  spot  to  stand! 
The  streets  were  full  as  of  wreathing  mass 
Of  venomous  serpents  who  strove  to  pass. 
Biting  and  tearing  with  teeth  and  nails — 
Cursing  and  shrieking — such  oaths  and  wails! 
All  wealth  forgotten  in  this  fell  strife- 
Men  forsook  their  all  for  a  breath  of  life — 
Bankers  cared  not  if  the  gold  heaps  lay 
Where  thief  could  glut  to  his  full  of  prey; 
.Houses  forsaken  where  costly  things 
Were  scattered — meet  for  the  use  of  Kings — 
For  one  fresh  breath  on  the  burning  brow 
Worth  more  than  handfuls  of  jewels  now! 
"Fresh  Air!    Fresh  Air!"  and  the  heated  street 

76 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Was  as  furnace  floor  beneath  their  feet. 

And  the  earth  was  burned,  and  black,  and  bare. 

As  red  hot  ashes  were  scattered  there. 

They  sought  for  caves  and  for  cellars  deep — 

Some  place  where  the  parched  form  may  creep — 

So  hot  the  air  in  the  dampest  place 

Like  blast  of  steam  in  the  wretch's  face! 

No  rest  was  found  in  the  dwelling  shade — 

All  seemed  as  a  heated  oven  made — 

Lo,  Beauty  from  richest  chamber  sped 

Where  the  scorching  sun  blazed  down  o'erhead; 

Men  strove  with  men  for  the  highest  place 

To  win  some  breeze  that  would  fan  the  face; 

Men  fought  like  beasts  for  the  highest  wall 

To  vanquish — soon  as  the  vanquished — fall! 

Never  cool  breath  to  the  burned  cheeks  came. 

The  wind  as  sharp  as  a  sword  of  flame 

Seering  the  flesh — till  the  pores  did  crack 

And  the  face  was  crisped,  and  dry,  and  black. 

Men  fought  their  way  to  the  river's  flood 

To  cool  their  brows  in  the  stagnant  blood. 

Bathed  therein  as  if  that  would  be 

An  ease  from  horrible  agony! 

And  this  to  their  pains  but  added  more; 

The  slime  soon  dried  over  every  pore 

Making  each  pulse  like  an  inward  fire — 

Filling  the  heart  with  blaspheming  ire! 

Babylon's  plain  once  so  green  to  see 

Was  bare  as  a  desert  sand  may  be — 

Once  a  world  of  blossoms — and  none  may  tread 

But  he  steppeth  to  crush  a  fair  flower's  head — 

Ah,  the  beautiful  flowers  were  burned  brown — 

Lo,  the  crackling  leaves  from  the  trees  dropped  down! 


76 


f  HE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

It  is  now  high  noon  in  Babylon — 

The  sun  in  meridian  glory  shone — 

The  sky  in  a  brazen  splendor  laid — 

No  speck  of  cloud  to  bedim  or  shade — 

O  Horror  of  Horrors!  what  is  this? 

Has  the  Sun  sank  in  a  deep  abyss? 

Or  was  it  a  sudden  shaft  of  night 

Had  slain  to  the  heart  the  Lord  of  Light? 

From  millions  of  lips  in  Babylon 

There  rang  out  the  cry:     ''The  Sun!     The  Sun  I' 

And  millions  of  hands  stretched  out  in  vain 

Imploring  for  golden  light  again! 

Each  thought  he  only  was  stricken  blind — 

The  only  one  accursed  of  his  kind — 

Staggered  and  grasped  for  support  near  by — 

Rubbing  in  frenzy  the  stricken  eye! 

One  moment  high  noon — a  blaze  of  light — 

The  next — a  dark  and  dismal  night — 

Aye,  swifter  than  dropping  lid  may  fall 

A  horrible  darkness  over  all! 

Ah,  surely  a  panic  was  over  all — 

They  crouched  and  groped  for  the  nearest  wall — 

Shouting  for  ''Light !"  how  the  air  was  rent 

By  desperate  frenzy  and  vain  intent! 

Let  Science  flash  out  the  light  she  gave — 

Oh,  give  us  fair  light  in  which  to  lave! 

She  once  clad  night  in  the  robes  of  noon — 

Had  mocked  the  splendor  of  silvery  moon. 

Glad  hopes  sprang  up  in  the  heart  to  die — 

For  Science  they  once  did  deify 

Now  in  the  hour  of  their  greatest  need 

Proved  but  a  broken  and  worthless  reed! 

No  lamp — no  candle — no  flash  of  light 

Of  any  kind  that  may  bless  the  sight — 


77 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST*'. 

A  greater  terror  in  every  breast 
When  Science  her  baffled  powers  confess'd! 
And  men  were  frenzied  they  knew  not  where 
They  stood  or  crawled — why  a  wild  beast's  lair 
A  heaven  to  this — then  one  may  dare 
To  meet  a  foe  when  he  saw  him  there! 
This  horrible  darkness — loathsome  spell- 
On  splendid  palace  and  hovel  fell, 
On  beggar  and  prince,  on  bond  and  free. 
Helpless  all  in  captivity! 
All  ties  of  nature  were  rent  in  twain — 
Aye,  motherly  love  was  even  slain. 
For  the  suckling  child  was  dashed  away 
That  mother  may  grope  for  light  of  day! 
One  minute  the  air  with  oaths  was  rife 
As  strong  men  struck  at  the  walls  in  strife — 
And  then  of  a  nameless  horror  dumb 
Crouching  and  watching  for  what  to  come! 
One  minute  crouching  in  deadly  fear — 
Then  maddened  by  unknown  danger  near. 
Leaped  up  to  clutch  at  the  empty  space. 
Strike  at  the  air  as  at  foeman's  face! 
An  awful,  horrible,  stifling  gloom. 
Men  searching  all  madly  round  the  room 
"With  bitter  cries — groping  round  and  round 
For  door  they  pass'd — by  terror  unfound; 
Helpless  in  terror  and  wild  affright — 
Their  strength  was  wasted  in  useless  fight — 
Oft  maddened — to  end  the  pain  of  all, 
"Would  batter  their  heads  against  the  wall! 
Lo,  in  this  terrible,  ghastly  strife. 
The  air  with  curses  and  oaths  was  rife 
In  one  vast  volume — commingling  rung 
One  terrible  oath  from  human  tongue! 
Then  sank  to  a  silence  dread  again — 
Gnawing  their  tongues  for  the  very  pain! 
78 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Lo,  the  Darkness  went  as  Darkness  came! 
Babylon  saw  of  her  coming  shame — 
A  thunderous  tramp — and  dust  clad  air — 
At  last  the  Barbarian  Kings  were  here! 
An  appalling  sight  to  meet  the  ken — 
The  East  was  black  with  the  moving  men — 
From  distant  North  to  the  hazy  South 
Alone  the  horizon  shut  them  out! 
A  deadly,  black  and  entombing  cloud. 
The  thunders  of  hoof — the  snortings  proud- 
The  savage  music  that  greets  the  ear 
Is  surely  the  blast  of  Death  to  hear! 

Hearing  the  blast  of  their  savage  horn. 
Children  of  Babylon,  where  thy  scorn? 
Not  even  Euphrates'  lordly  tide 
The  prey  from  Barbarian  Hosts  divide! 
They  come  as  locusts  of  summer  come — 
Thy  stricken  heart  may  be  surely  dumb — 
Behind  their  passage  is  blank  and  bare — 
Babylon's  meat  is  their  future  fare! 
They  come  to  clutch  at  thy  golden  store, 
(Thy  dainty  days  are  most  surely  o'er). 
In  savage  daring  and  reckless  pride 
Water  their  horse  in  Euphrates'  tide. 

What  cry  is  this  from  where  great  ships  lay- 
The  river  dwindling — shrinking  away — 
Lo,  'tis  vanished  from  human  eye — 
In  mud  of  river  the  great  ships  lie! 
Gone  is  the  river  with  all  its  pride — 
The  waves  no  more — nor  the  lordly  tide — 
That  bore  on  its  bosom  from  every  sea 
The  stateliest  ships  that  the  eye  may  see! 
The  river  has  fled  on  hasty  wings — 

70 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

A  passage  free  for  the  Eastern  Kings — 

The  meeting  wings  of  Barbarian  horde 

Search  not  in  vain  for  an  easy  ford. 

Lo,  see  how  the  dark  lines  nearer  crawl — 

Have  met — now  the  city  is  in  their  thrall — 

A  fatal  circle  of  laughing  foes 

Each  moment  nearing  for  deadly  close! 

Where  now  thy  laughter,  Babylon,  fair? 
Aye,  thou  art  now  in  the  jackal's  lair — 
A  Jackal  savage  that  snarling  waits 
With  sharpened  teeth  at  thine  open  gates! 
Cutting  supplies  from  thy  dwindling  store 
Thou  feelest  pangs — such  never  before — 
Famine  of  Water — Famine  of  Bread — 
Dainty  stomachs  are  going  unfed — 
Thy  fairest  daughters  fighting  for  meat 
That  Jackals  would  spurn  with  swiftest  feet — 
Could  foeman  dream  of  a  better  day? 
Death — Mourning  and  Famine,  hold  fell  sway! 
What  was  the  taunt  in  the  Christian's  song — 

"True  is  the  Lord,  and  His  hand  is  strong! 
None  shall  save  from  His  terrible  ire — 
She  shall  'be  utterly  burn'd  with  fire!" 

Where  thy  laughter,  O  Babylon,  now? 
To   snatch   the   diadem   from   thy   brow 
They  circle  grim  with  a  dire  intent. 
With  hearts  all  harder  than  hearts  of  flint, 
O  where  they  laughter,  Babylon,  fair? 
Pour  thee  hot  ashes  on  brow  and  hair; 
Have  thy  Mirth — Laughter  and  merry  Dance 
Flown  at  the  sight  of  Barbarian  lance? 
Rend  thee  the  purple  from  dainty  limb — 

80 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Gird  thy  breasts  with  sackcloth  coarse  and  grim — 
Down  in  the  dust,  'tis  a  fitting  place — 
'Tis  fitting  spot  for  thy  whorish   face! 
Are  they  now  a  thing  for  passing  jest, 
O  Babylon,  with  their  teeth  at  thy  breast? 
Trampling  thy  skirts  as  their  dazzled  eyes 
Gloat   at  the   wonder   of   this   Grand   Prize. 

Are  they  picturesque  in  savageness? 

With  rough  tanned  skins  for  their  uncouth  dress. 

Girt  with  weapon  of  primitive  fight 

The   arrow — the  spear — the  javlin   bright; 

Their  horses  shaggy — but  light  and  fieet. 

Like  rush  of  the  wind   their  unshod   feet. 

The  veriest  slaves  to  their  master's  will 

And  almost  human  in  feats  of  skill. 

How  subtle  the  thought  of  old  Greek  brain. 

Behold!  'tis  his  Centaur  back  again! 

Surely  as  one  are  the  man  and  steed 

In   reckless   daring   and  savage   deed. 

The  horses  are  snorting — they  sniff  the  fight — 

The  Barbarians  laughing  in  mad   delight — 

Lo,  Babylon's  plunder  at  last  is  near — 

The  arrows  ready — and  fiashing  the  spear! 

O  Lady  of  Nations!  where  are  now 

The  Beauty — Splendor — that  decked  thy  bow 

When  nations  eager  to  do  thy  will 

Spoke  Thou — and  lo,  all  their  tongues  were  still; 

Looked  you — and  they  were  swift  to  do — 

Out  of  the  scabbard  the  bright  sword  fiew — 

Quick  as  a  flash  to  defend  and  aid — 

Earth  at  thy  frownings  was  sore  dismay'd! 

The  Nations  have  heard  thy  cry  of  pain. 
Nor  has  it  rang  in  their  ears  in  vain, 

81 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

The  Nations  ready  as  if  one  man 
To  aid  and  abet  by  every  plan! 
Nations  are  arming — they  come — they  come — 
To   blast  of   trumpet  and   roll   of   drum — 
Europe   is  naught  but  an  armed  camp — 
The  world  resounds  to  the  martial  tramp. 
Squadrons   are   coming  across  the   sea — 
Tongue  may  not  tell  what  their  numbers  be — 
As  swift  as  the  wind  and  steam  may  bring 
Their  millions  of  armed  offering! 
Yea,  Coming — but  lo,  such  leagues  away — 
And  foeman  here  in  battle  array! 

The  shouts  of  Helpers  ring  in  thine  ear — 
But  cruelest  foes  already  here! 
Aye  they  will  come,  but,  alas  too  late — 
When  Palace  and  Hovel  desolate — 
When  the  wrecking  hand  with  the  burning  brand 
Has  blackened  the  Glory  of  all  the  Land! 
They  will  come  when  carcass  is  on  the  plain — 
Will  come  when  Beauty  and  Youth  are  slain — 
When  aged  and  young  are  a  dainty  feast 
For  the  vulture  bird  and  for  savage  beast! 
They  will  come  when  the  eyes  can  only  greet 
The  mangled  Bodies  in  every  street — 
Smoking  wall  yet  echoing  death's  despair 
And  the  cry  of  the  dead  still  in  the  air! 
Coming — but,   ah,  such   a  weary  space — 
With  Foeman  standing  before  the  face. 
When  any  moment  the  arrows'  flight 
May  herald  the  deadly — awful  fight. 

O  for  a  lull  of  the  Tempest's  breath! 

O  for  a  break  in  the  line  of  Death! 

Can  we  not  bribe  them — hold  them  at  bay 

82 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Just  for  the  space  of  a  single  day? 
Send  then  the  subtlest  tongues  to  them — 
Presents  of  diamonds  and  flashing  gem — 
Coined  and  uncoined — of  value  untold 
Pour  to  their  gazing  glitter  of  gold — 
Bribe  them — hold  them — whatever  is  given 
Our  best  or  dearest  under  heaven — 
Our  fairest  women — our  richest  wine — 
Costliest  presents  from  God's  own  shrine! 
Blind  them  with  promises  false  and  true — 
Reckless  thine  oaths — be  many  or  few — 
Only  hold  them   from  battle  array 
Just  for  the  space  of  a  single  day! 

Lady  of  Nations,  where  now  thy  God 
Who  rules  the  Nations  with  iron   rod? 
Go  to  his  altar  with  tearful  eyes — 
Let  loftiest  cloud  of  incense  rise — 
Deck  thou  his  image  as  ne'er  before — 
Costliest  floods  of  oblations  pour 
As  never  were  yet  to  Godhead  given, 
To  Greek,  or  Roman,  or  Christian  Heaven! 
Crowd  thou  his  temple  as  ne'er  before 
Prostrate  to  lie  on  the  marble  floor. 
Turning  thy  pale,  supplicating  face. 
Where  golden  Image  his  altars  grace. 
Lady  of  Babylon,  cry  aloud 
There  in  thine  abject  terror  all  bowed ; 
Is  thy  God  dreaming?  will  he  forsake? 
Cry  out  most  bitterly — he  will  wake! 
Aye,  art  thou  sure  he  indeed  is  told? 
Send  Him  thy  messages  manifold — 
Tell  Him  of  thy  danger — fast  and  fleet 
By  wire — by  steed — and  by  runner's  feet! 
Tell  him  thy  danger  in  words  of  fire — 

83 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Rouse  up  his  terrible,  'vengeful  ire — 

Make  him  to  know,  aye,  to  realize 

The  foemen  are  here  before  our  eyes! 

Why  is  he  waiting  beside  the  sea? 

Why  not  come  alone  in  Majesty? 

Then  foes  shall  blacken  and  shrivelled  lie 

Alone  from  fire  in  his  flashing  eye! 

Who  hath  offended  in  anything, 

Or  failed  to  his  shrine  their  prayers  to  bring? 

Some  Christian's  breath  must  befoul  the  air — 

Broken  the  current  of  fervent  prayer! 

Yea,  but  the  Christian  and  Jew  alone 

Have  scorned  to  bow  to  his  Godhead's  throne — 

Come,  let  us  search  with  a  hate  renewed — 

Better  for  them  they  were  wild  beast's  food! 

The  Cross,  the  Gibbet,  the  wild  Beast's  Den 

Were  surely  a  heaven  for  them  to  win! 

The  torches  lighted  by  Nero's  hate 

Had  laughed  to  escape  this  last  fell  fate! 

Search  for  the  Christians  where'er  they  be 

With  cunning  of  Death's  ferocity! 

Hunt  them  with  bloodhounds — magical  art — 

Torment  them  tho'  they  be  blood  of  our  heart! 

O  Lady  of  Babylon,  get  thee  dowi 
And  cast  in  the  mire  thy  golden  crown — 
In  sackcloth  clad — in  thine  ashes 'lie — 
The  world  shall  shudder  to  hear  thy  cry! 
O  Lady  of  Nations,  thy  costliest  things — 
That  alone  seem  fit  for  the  touch  of  Kings — 
Are  things  of  loathing — a  curse  to  cling — 
Barbarian  hand  on  thy  throat  to  bring! 
O  climb  to  the  top  of  thy  highest  place — 
O  Scan  the  blank  West  some  hope  to  trace— 

84 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Cry  as  thou  never  hast  cried  before 

As  weeper  crieth — at  dead  men's  door! 

O  climb  to  top  of  thy  highest  place 

Canst  thou  see  aught  in  that  weary  space? 

No  dust  of  marching  in  all  the  air? 

No  shadow  of  stirring  anywhere? 

O  take  to  thine  eye  the  sharpest  glass — 

Is  naught  moving   in   glittering  mass? 

At  last— aye,  what  is  that  long  thin  line? 

Our  coherts  are  coming,  O  heart  of  mine! 

"re*,  we  can  see  it  with  naked  eye — 
A  slender  thread  hetween  earth  and  sky — 
Nay,  it  is  false!  and  thou  art  lying! 
*Tis  but  a  mass  of  vultures  flying  I 

Alas,  new  Foes  in  the  upper  air — 
Foes — Foes — there  are  foemen  everywhere! 
And  what  shall  the -coming  vultures  greet. 
Ours  or  Barbarians  the  reeking  meat? 

"What  is  that  coming?     O  Look  again— 
A  shadow  has  darkened  all  the  plain — 
A  moving  shadow  that  does  not  fly — 
Are  not  our  coherts  now  coming  anigh?" 

"Moving  shadows  alas,  aye,  alas, 
The  plain  is  moving — a  leaping  mass — 
Lions  and  Tigers — all  beasts  of  prey — 
Come  to  our  table  to  sup  today!'* 

See  the  Barbarians  are  speeding  round 
Ah,  in  the  meshes  we're  surely  bound — 
Tighter  and  tighter  the  cords  they  make — 
A  human  net  that  we  cannot  break! 

85 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHBIST. 

Shipwrecked — as  caught  on  a  rock  are  we, 

Around  us  a  living,  seething  sea — 

Soon  waves  all  crested  with  flashing  steel 

Will  'round  us  in  maddening  eddies  wheel! 

Where  are  our  warriors  famed  of  old 

That  oft  in  our  ears  their  prowess  told 

Where  are  they  now  in  our  time  of  need? 

They  have  given  us  words — now  show  the  deed. 

Look  at  the  Cowards  shrinking  away — 

They  make  no  effort  to  hold  at  bay 

This   terrible  foe — they  take  to  flight 

As  bats  and  owls  that  fear  of  the  light! 

Aye,  see  yon  warriors,  see  the  scars 

Received  in  the  rush  of  other  wars — 

Now  as  a  child  or  woman  may  be — 

Fainting  of  heart  and  shaking  of  knee! 

Faint-hearted — and  that  they  well  may  be 

For  where  is  the  hope  in  such  a  sea 

Of  circling  lances?  a  sharp  steel  ring 

That  every  moment  is  narrowing! 

Now,  what  this  dread  silence  far  and  wide 
With  never  a  cry  on  any  side? 
A  silence  chill — see,  that  ring  of  horse 
Motionless  stands  in  its  onward  course. 
This  silence  dread  our  moment  of  Fate — 
List  to  that  wild,  lonely  cry  of  Hate! 
Hark!  to  the  thunder  that  seems  to  smite 
The  very  sun  in  its  upward  flight! 
See  they  are  rushing  from  every  side — 
The  feathered  arrows  with  blood  are  dyed — 
The  lances — the  swords  at  last  are  wed 
To  Babylon's  flesh — the  stream  runs  red! 
Our  men,  our  women  a  flock  of  sheep — 
The  Hand  of  Shepherd  not  here  to  keep — 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTT-CHBIST. 

Children  and  women  as  well  as  men — 
Our  city  is  one  vast  slaughter  pen! 

O  Look!  where  God's  Temple  springs  on  high — 
Marvel  of  splendor — against  the  sky, 
So  light,  yet  massive  in  its  design — 
Surely  it  sprang  from  a  brain  divine! 
See  how  our  children  are  crowding  there — 
Making  it  ring  with  their  loud  despair — 
Where  God-like  his  golden  Image  stands 
Worshipers  blessing  with  outstretched  hands! 
What  are  they  doing  in  their  despair? 
What  maddened  wretches  are  climbing  there 
Where  God  on  the  beauteous  altar  stands — 
Maddened  they  are — a  moment  before 
Worshiping  prone  on  the  marble  floor — 
Now  they  are  wild  as  the  furies  be 
Destroying  where  they  had  bent  the  knee! 
Like  hellish  furies  they  Curse  and  shriek — 
And  women  are  there — ah,  once  so  meek — 
Outvieing  the  men — with  unloosened  hair, 
Wild  Furies  or  Witches  everywhere! 
See,  how  yon  villain  the  hammer  sways, 
While  at  every  stroke  the  mad  crowd  brays: 

"Curse  Him!   The  Author  of  all  our  WoesT 

It  shivers — it  totters — ah.  down  it  goes! 
Hark!  with  what  thunder  of  joys  they  greet — 
They  trample  in  fury  beneath  their  feet — 
Spitting  and  daubing  with  most  foul  things — 
A  worship  new  for  the  King  of  Kings! 
Aye,  they  are  maddened  with  new  found  hate 
And  hellish  fury  to  desecrate — 
And  cursed  thrice  be  that  cursed  hand 

87 


THE  OITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Who  waves  in  triumph  that  blazing  brand! 
See  how  the  red  torches  flash  and  spread 
How  they  circle  around  the  dancer's  head — 
Now  cursing  and  yelling,  to  and  fro, 
Maddened  by  Danger  and  Coming  Woe! 
The  Temple  afire!    alas;   alas! 
How  the  wild  flame  spreads  in  rolling  mass — 
They're  drenching  with  oil  the  grandest  place 
That  ever  smiled  to  the  human  face! 
Hark!   at  the  shouts  of  that  maddened  ring 
As  they  give  the  flames  such  offering! 
Ah,  see  there  are  some  at  such  sad  shame 
Casting  themselves  in  the  licking  flame! 
Like  serpents  the  flre  flames  leap  and  twine 
From  base  to  apex  of  holy  shrine — 
Soon  to  vanish  a  ghostly  thing — 
As  our  fading  faith   in   dastard  King! 
What  ghastly  revels  the  eye  to  meet 
With  Death's  carnival  in  every  street — 
The  laughter  of  madness — shriek  of  Woe — 
For  cursed  Barbarians  no  mercy  show! 

He  Cometh  not!  aye,  he  makes  no  sign — 

What,  is  he  not  then  a  God  divine? 

Were  He — would  he  leave  us  here  to  be 

Victim  of  Jackal's  ferocity? 

Babylon — She  who  first  Deified — 

Light  of  his  eye — the  Gem  of  his  pride — 

The  golden  city  of  his  desire — 

Thus  to  be  left  to  the  foeman's  ire! " 

Why  does  he  linger  beside  the  sea — 

Fretting  like  one  of  humanity — 

Telling  of  wonders  his  hand  will  do? 

Poor,  pitiful  boast  that  will  ne'er  come  true! 

His  words  had  lulled  us  of  every  fear — 

88 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

We  laughed  in  our  peace  till  foes  were  here-^ 

He  said,  to  fear  not  of  living  thing — 

The  God  of  Earth  was  Babylon's  King! 

Chaldea's  Land  was  a  holy  place 

That  a  foeman's  foot  should  ne'er  disgrace — 

The  World  combined  not  a  foot  should  win — 

They  may  behold — but  not  enter  in! 

Is  he  truly  God?    Look  down  and  see 

That  shambles  of  dead  humanity — 

Who  can  that  horror  of  horrors  paint — 

Slayers  from  slaying  are  waxing  faint! 

See  the  Barbarian  is  gorged  with  blood — 

His  horse  knee  deep  in  that  clammy  flood — 

Sated  with  slaughter — his  wanton  ire 

Gives  to  his  hand  but  destructive  fire! 

See,  how  the  fresh  flames  creep  and  leap — 

See,  now  how  the  old  flames  rush  and  sweep 

Where  is  our  Nero  with  golden  lyre 

Paean  to  sing  o'er  Babylon's  pyre? 

Sated  with  slaughter  the  foeman  stands 

The  sword  held  loose  in  the  blood  stained  hands — 

Cursing  the   victims   that   crowd   his   way — 

Utterly  Weary  to  further  slay! 

Hark!  Hark!  what  is  that?  some  new  born  snare? 
How  close  and  dusty  the  lagging  air — 
The  earth  is  rumbling  beneath  our  feet — 
The  houses  nodding  in  every  street! 

Horrors  Triumphant!   again  the  light 
Is  stricken  to  death  in  arms  of  Night — 
Making  all  Nature  utterly  void — 
Better  by  far  we  were  all  destroyed! 
Hark!  what  babel  of  terrors  below — 

89 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Terror  alike  of  victims  and  foe 

Stricken  with  terror  and  wild  despair, 

Rushing  and  dashing  they  know  not  where — 

They  see  not  where — for  in  this  thick  night 

Most  lurid  flame  is  flicker  of  light, 

As  faint  as  will-o'-the-wisp  may  be — 

Or  firebug  flashing  of  light  to  see — 

The  firm  earth  breaking  beneath  the  feet 

Great  buildings  crashing  in  every  street — 

All  wrapped  in  a  darkness  horrible — 

Surely  the  depths  of  a  Christian  Hell! 

What  if  the  Christians  indeed  are  right? 
Did  they  not  prophesy  this  fell  fight 
Many  and  many  a  year  ago? 
Fulfill'd  to  letter  is  every  woe! 
When  as  wild  beasts  hunted  and  driven, 
Did  they  not  smile  at  each  torture  given. 
Smiled  at  our  torture  howe'er  replete 
Fearless  whatever  the  doom  to  meet? 
Yea,  in  the  throes  of  their  deepest  pain, 

Cried:     "Lo,  the  Lord  Christ  shall  come  again!' 

Yea,  in  the  dying  they  waxed  more  bold 
As  of  the  Coming  of  Christ  they  told! 
Aye,  and  they  prophesied  there  would  be 
Direst  of  wrath  and  calamity — 
Horrible  Thing  on  Horrible  Thing — 
Whoever  worshiped  our  Dastard  King. 

See  yon — the  dark  clouds  are  breaking  away — 
Ah,  it  is  coming — the  Beautiful  Day — 
Rapture  of  Raptures  again  the  sweet  light — 
Mercy!  Oh,  Mercy!  what  wonderful  sight! 

90 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHBIST. 

Look  at  the  Heavens!  a  Terrible  Red 
Bursts  like  a  tidal  wave  over  the  head — 
All  of  the  Heavens  a  sea  billowed  plain — 
See,  drops  are  falling!   a  horrible  rain! 

Heaven's  fire  above  us — Hell's  fires  below — 
Where  now  can  we  turn — where  now  can  we  go? 
Now  the  full  Doom  told  by  Christian  is  come! 
To  help  or  to  aid  us  the  world  is  dumb! 
Man,  angel  or  Devil — no  help  for  us  now 
With  fire  at  our  feet,  and  fire  on  our  brow. 
Thus  in  unending  ages  be  toss'd 
Utterly!     Utterly! !     Utterly  Lost! ! ! 

****** 

Lo!  not  alone  in  Babylon 

Was  mourning  for  the  deed  now  done — 

(As  Babylon  in  ashes  lay) 

Fore'er  the  closing  of  the  day 

Ran  the  swift  message  of  the  skies: — 

"Our  Babylon  in  ashes  UesT 

At  first  was  sneering  at  the  news, 

"Only  some  speculative  ruse — 

We've  heard  strange  news  before"  say  they 

And  shuddering  put  the  news  away. 

But  when  repeated  o'er  and  o'er — 

The  same  dread  message  evermore, 

Men  could  no  longer  then  refuse 

To  feel  at  heart  this  awful  news. 

Then  rang  one  universal  cry 

That  pierced  the  mocking  heavens  on  high! 

Lo!  round  the  world  the  mourning  ran 

As  if  from  universal  man; 

For  Trader  where  in  any  Race 

91 


THE  OITT  OP  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

But  Ruin  stared  him  in  the  face? 

They  all  held  stock  in  Babylon — 

Their  Riches — now  their  all  had  gone! 

Lo!  never  since  the  world  was  made 

Such   universal   grief  displayed — 

No  sentimental  grief — but  pain 

As  if  a  sword  had  cut  in  twain 

Their  living  hearts — yes.  Ruin  lay 

Itself  across  their  path  that  day — 

For  all  grew  rich  at  her  great  mart. 

Her  ways  had  won  the  trader's  heart, 

They  loved  her  for  the  riches  made, 

For  the  great  life  she  gave  to  trade! 

And  not  to  trader's  heart  alone — 

For  scarce  a  race  on  earthly  zone 

But  from  the  wants  of  Babylon 

Had  to  the  worker  surely  won 

Fair  bread  and  meat — Lo,  this  fell  day 

In  smoke  beheld  all  pass  away! 

And  whence  shall  come  the  next  day's  meal? 

Ah,  surely  never  Human  weal 

Received  such  deadly  blow  as  this 

O'ershadowing  every  earthly  bliss! 

And  men  who  dreamed  of  future  trade 

Gloating  o'er  margins  to  be  made, 

With  trembling  lips  and  blanched  cheek — 

With  palsied  tongue  that  could  not  speak — 

Heard  of  the  news — and  lo,  the  brain 

Cracked  like  a  harpstring  in  the  strain! 

The  Vast  Exchanges  of  the  world 
Were  unto  utter  Ruin  hurl'd! 
Wild,    frantic   men   were   rushing  there 
Commingling  blasphemy  with  prayer! 
Great  fortunes  vanished  evermore — 

92 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Sucli  cries — no  mortals  heard  before — 

And  may  ears  hear  not  such  again! 

The  feverish  essence  of  all  pain. 

What  rushing  on  the  marble  floor — 

The  reign  of  Bulls  and  Bears  was  o'er — 

Such  stricken,  helpless,  blasted  brains 

Blaspheming  for  their  vanished  gains! 

The  living — aye,  far  blessed  more 

The  Suicide  there  in  his  gore, 

He  knew  not,  felt  not  of  the  pain 

Of  hissing  devils  in  the  brain! 

A  few  as  numbed — all  silent  lay — 

The  many  like  wild  beasts  of  prey. 

As  soul  forsaken,  gnashing  teeth, 

Trampling  the  weak  beneath  their  feet! 

And  trampled  on — or  kicked  aside — 

Was  many  a  blood  stained  suicide. 

Whose  life's  blood  trickled  on  the  floor 

Where  danced  his  feet  an  hour  before! 

Ah,  many  a  frenzied  man  was  there 

All  knew  this  morn  a  millionaire. 

Ere  evening's  first  soft  shadows  lay 

Knew  all  his  wealth  had  passed  away! 

What  hearts — what  brains  were  throbbing  now 

With  worse  than  death  drops  on  the  brow — 

Lo,  Ruin  plucked  them  from  their  place 

In  the  vile  gutter  of  disgrace! 

None  may  escape  from  this  fell  blow — 

The  Beggar — Prince — the  high,  the  low — 

From  Lady  rich — to  courtesan, 

(Who  in  the  night  time  hunted  men) 

But  felt  this  blow — tomorrow's  sun 

Shone  not  for  them  as  Babylon! 

For  if  Impoverished  the  hand 

That  reaped  the  riches  of  the  land 

98 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 


Could  wife,  or  bastard  love  enfold, 

Themselves  in  garments  worn  of  old. 

That  City  gave  to  Fashion  tone. 

She,  stately  Queen  of  Fashion's  throne. 

Now  quenched  indeed  the  guiding  light 

That  led   to  taste  all  exquisite! 

The  Courtesan  may  seek  in  vain 

To  find  the  fools  to  give  her  gain. 

The  want  of  bread  kept  fools  away 

"Who  showered   upon  her  yesterday 

The  richest,  costliest  things  which  made 

Her  laugh  to  know  she  was  no  maid! 

Lo,  to  the  men  of  cunning  brain 

A  fatal  blow — for  now  in  vain 

This  new  design — for  who  would  buy 

Like  Her  whose  smoke  rolled  now  on  high? 

They  toil'd  before  in  glad  delight 

For  well  they  knew  when  she  caught  sight 

Of  beauty  new — her  open  purse 

Paid  well  for  it — but  now  a  curse 

Was  beauty  rare — a  worthless  thing 

Of  nothing  worth  the  fashioning! 

Vain  to  recount — for  surely  all 

Seemed  crushed  to  earth  at  this  fell  fall — 

And  ne'er  such  earnest  grief  was  won. 

For  anything — as  Babylon! 

Whence  of  a  sudden  came  the  thought? 
A  change  in  human  Soul  was  wrought 
Unto  each  Soul  like  tongue  of  fire — 
Filling  all  souls  with  one  desire — 
Souls  all  crushed  a  moment  before 
Without  seeming  life  on  marble  floor, 
Now  leaped  up  with  a  new  born  life 
Shouting — ''Hurrah  for  the  coming  strife!" 

94 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Aye,  'twas  a  motley  crowd  indeed 
Hunting  for  arms  in  their  great  need 
An  eager  hurrying — rush  of  feet, 
Helping  desire  the  hands  were  fleet. 
Grasping  for  arms  the  first  they  saw — 
To  grasp  a  neighbor's  the  common  law. 
And  not  an  anvil  in  any  land 
But  wildly  rang  to  hammering  hand  J 
Even  women  with  men  outvied 
To  dangle  sword  or  knife  by  side. 
Mingling  with  men  in  this  one  aim — 
Jesting — cursing — without  a  shame! 
Even  bartering  all  their  charms 
To  grasp  in  fingers  warlike  arms. 

Ah,  'twas  indeed  a  wild,  weird  band 

Gathering  strength  from  every  land. 

Wrinkled  brows  and  whitened  hair 

Only  the  offering  some  brought  there. 

Tottering  feet — in  the  palsied  hand 

Like  aspen  leaf  was  battling  brand; 

And  ruddy  boys  who  scarce  could  be 

Out  of  the  ring  of  infancy; 

Maidens  and  girls  of  tender  years 

Fresh  from  the  schoolroom's  hopes  and  fears 

Women  all  flushed  with  golden  prime — 

Matron  and  maid — from  many  a  clime. 

Aye,  and  the  dying  thrust  away 

The  loving  hands  who  longed  to  stay 

To  close  the  eyes  that  soon  would  be 

Fixed  in  the  chill  of  vacancy; 

Aye,  but  the  dying  thrust  aside — 

Beckoned  them  off  to  the  swelling  tide — 

Glad  they  could  make  such  offering 

Ere  sinking  spirit  took  its  wing, 

95 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

Bringing  to  death  blanched  cheek  blood  tinge — 

Hissing  with  rattle  of  Death:     ''Revenger 

Lo,  'sundering  of  every  tie — 

No  longer  dear  to  mother's  eye 

The  new  born  child — but  cast  away 

Careless  if  Death  would  grasp  a  prey. 

So  that  the  Mother's  feet  could  stand 

In  dire  revenge  in  Israel's  land! 

Europe  as  mad  as  a  world  could  be 

In  a  fiendish  dance  of  Devilry! 

To  hear  the  fresh  sweet  voices  say 

Words  that  the  vilest  held  at  bay — 

The  lips  scarce  free  from  mother's  breast 

Full  of  a  ribald  song  and  jest — 

Wild  language — that  may  surely  be 

The  Devil's  Pearls  of  Blasphemy! 

To  hear  those  rosy  lips  repeat 

The  vilest  language  of  the  street. 

Their  every  action  showing  well 

The  Teacher  surely  came  from  Hell! 

Lo,  women  fair  as  well  as  men 

Seemed  friends  incarnate  in  their  sin. 

All  glorying  in  their  awful  shame 

Till  they  were  human  but  in  name! 

Lo,   gathering  still — like   river  vast 

Struck  by  a  Simoon's  driving  blast 

Gathered  fresh  strength  upon  its  way — 

What  mortal  dare  to  say  them  nay! 

Till  burst  at  last — sin's  crested  sea 

Blaspheming,  fierce  humanity — 

Wild  waters  with  a  thunder  roar — 

A  hurricane  on  Israel's  shore! 

And  whose  the  hand  that  thus  hath  done 
Dishonor  foul  to  Babylon? 

96 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Was  it  not  Jewish  hireling  hand 
That  nerved  the  sword,  and  lit  the  brand, 
And  thus  Pre-eminence  hath  won 
Jerusalem  o'er  Babylon! 
Have  not  their  Temple — God — and  Life — 
Been  all  the  cause  of  earthly  strife? 
All  cursed  this  thrice  accursed  Race! 
Come  let  us  blot  them  from  Earth's  face 
So  that  no  searching  eye  will  find 
A  trace  or  vestige  of  their  kind! 
Are  they  not  boasting  that  their  King — 
A  Jewish  Christian — yet  shall  bring 
Deliverance — and  they  shall  be 
The  Princes  of  Humanity! 
The  Christians  and  the  Jews  combine 
To  make  the  Crucified  Divine — 
Have  we  not  Spirits  to  our  aid? 
Then  should  we  be  of  Him  afraid? 
Spirits  as  countless  as  the  sands 
Are  waving  on  with  flaming  hands. 
They  Prophesy  of  Victory  Grand 
O'er  all  our  foes  in  Israel's  land! 
Come  let  us  crush  the  Jewish  Race! 
Dare  this  Messiah  to  his  face! 
Dare  him  from  his  imperial  height 
To  come  and  wage  us  in  this  fight! 
There  let   Humanity  hold   tryst 
And  tho'  the  Foeman  the  dead  Christ 
With  all  the  attributes  Priests  weave 
Around  Him — that  they  may  deceive — 
With  all  Heaven's  armies  at  his  back — 
Our  feet  in  vengeance  shall  not  slack! 
We  shall  but  meet  with  swifter  pace 
And  greet  this  Godhead  face  to  face! 
Would  we  could  dare  Him  on  Earth's  sod 
Then  we  should  see — who  is  The  God! 
97 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Onward  that  wild  and  angry  sea — 

Mouthing  curses  and  Blasphemy! 

Caring  little  their  rushing  feet 

Soon  would  the  Coming  Foemen  meet! 

Armageddon  the  place  of  tryst — 

The  foe  they  hated— THE  COMING  CHRIST! 


M 


THE  FATHERS. 


Our  higher  Critics  seem  to  be 
A  sort  of  chartered  Company, 
With  the  exclusive  Right  to  rule 
(He  who  denies  this  is  a  fool) 
With  an  exclusive  right  to  trade 
(Of  God  or  man  they  are  not  afraid) 
In  Books  once  Sacred  and  Divine 
They  shall  alone  the  Truth  define. 

"With  splash  of  Hebrew  and  of  Greek 

But,  ah,  Colossean  in  cheek! 

And  where  the  Scholar  so  absurd 

To  doubt  of  theirs  a  single  word. 

Their  "Verifying  Faculty" 

The  Guide  for  Common  man  must  be. 

"The  letter  Killeth!"  So  they  say, 
"So  we  must  cast  the  husks  away; 
In  Bible  rubbish  we  will  find 
Some  croppings  of  the  Spirit's  mind." 

We  must  have  charity  in  sooth 
Tho'  they  despise  what  we  call  Truth, 
For  they  with  us  in  common  hold 
What  most  men  know  is  Bible  gold. 
As  all  men  Brothers — why  should  we 
Refuse  to  them  fraternity? 
Because  they  see  not  with  our  eyes. 
And  the  Blood  Sacrifice  despise. 
Perchance  is  no  good  reason  why 

99 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

We  should  say  to  such  men  good-bye 
We  cannot  in  your  church  abide? 
Tho'  they  have  said  that  Ezra  lied, 
And  shaped  a  Moses  all  their  own. 
Aye,  what  tho'  they  have  overthrown 
Each    miracle   God's    servants   wrought. 
And  even  by  insidious  thought 
Hinted  that  Christ  e'en  did  not  do 
The  works  the  Gospel  said  were  true. 

They've  thrown  upon  God's  Word  such  slurs 

'Twould  seem  they  were  a  lot  of  curs 

Who  stole  some  meat,  and  with  sharp  teeth 

Rent  it  asunder  with  mad  heat. 

Till  what  is  left  is  hard  to  tell 

When  rent  and  torn  by  hate  from  hell. 

Now  let  us  of  their  ravenings  note — 
Examine  faults  o'er  which  they  gloat: — 

Hear  Palus   in  mad   blasphemy 

Claim  Zacharias  did  not  see 

An  angel — but  the  incense  smoke 

Seemed  one — a  paralytic  stroke 

Held  his  tongue  mute.     Elizabeth 

A  vile  procuress,  made  a  net 

For  Youth  to  take  the  Virgin  in — 

(So  Christ  the  offspring  of  such  sin!) 

No  angels  to  the  shepherds  came. 

Some  dancing  Youths  with  torches  flame 

A  merry  making  in  the  night 

Seemed  angels  in  their  drowsy  sight. 

Bauer  says,  that  it  is  quite  absurd 
That  any  one  at  Jordan  heard 

100 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTT-CHEIST. 

Jehovah  speaking  to  The  Son, 
That  such  a  thing  was  never  done, 
And  no  descending  Dove  smote  air — 
Some  lambent  flame,  or  lightning  there. 

As  to  Temptation — Palus  said, 

'Twas  hut  a  dream — when  vision  fled 

Behold,  a  Caravan  drew  near 

And  gave  the  hungry  Christ  good  cheer. 

Sweet  breezes  fanned  his  cheek — so  he 

Dreamed  of  sweet  Angel  Company. 

And  Hase  has  a  most  pleasant  way 
Of  telling,  how  at  wedding  day 
The  Christ  with  a  rich  pleasantry 
A  Present  brought — when  none  did  see. 
In  water  Jars  He  hid  the  wine. 
Which  "Tipsy  John"  did  not  divine 
And  in  his  drunken  spree   did  tell 
That  Jesus  wrought  a  miracle. 

Palus  states,  never  lepers  came 

To  Christ,  that  had  within  their  frame 

That  deadly  virus  and  were  healed. 

Venturini  who  first  revealed — 
The  fact,  that  Christ  a  lotion  gave 
The  Blind  men — often  sight  did  save 
By  putting  finger  in  the  eye 
Removing  scale  and  stigmati. 

And  Qahler  was  not  loath  to  say, 
The  Dead  did  not  The  Christ  obey 
But  in  a  swoon  the  little  maid 
Recovered  by  the  teacher's  aid; 

101 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Nain's  Widow's  Son  but  just  the  same — 
Swoon  torper  only  held  his  frame; 
And  Lazarus  in  lethargy, 
Tho'  seemingly  as  dead  to  see, 
But  when  they  rolled  the  stone  away 
And  let  the  hot  air  have  full  sway 
Awoke,  and  from  his  torper  rose. 
Around  him  still  death  winding  clothes. 

And  Palus  said.  At  Jacob's  well 
Some  Passerby  did  Jesus  tell 
What  kind  of  woman  she  who  came 
To  draw  of  Water,  thus  her  shame 
Came  to  his  knowledge. 

Thus  He  knew 
Nathaniel's  character  was  true 
From  common  heresay. 

Christ's  keen  eye 
The  shoal  of  fishes  did  discry 
So  told  them  to  let  down  the  net — 
Credulity  and  craft  well  met. 

And  Schleiermacher  not  afraid 

To  say,  the  Words  The  Lord  Christ  prayed 

(To  us  the  universal  prayer 

That  Infant  lips  lisp  everywhere) 

Matthew's  interpolation — and 

Such  prayer  not  given  by  Christ's  command. 

And  Schulz,  that  Matthew  did  not  write 
His  Gospel — not  a  page  saw  light 
Until  all  the  Apostles  died. 

And  Palus,  that  Christ  never  said 
To  Nicodemus — (what  we  hold 

102 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

As  very  pearls — the  wide  world's  gold 

Is  dross  indeed  compared  to  them 

Of  all  Truth — this  the  diadem — ) 

How  God  so  loved  the  World  and  gave 

His  only  Son  that  World  to  save 

And  whosoever  would  believe 

The  Heart  of  God  glad  to  receive; 

'*The  Words  are  John's,''  this  Palus  writes. 

Olshausen  fearlessly  indites, 

Christ  cast  no  Devils  out  of  men 

And  the  Swine  story  but  akin 

To  Balaam's  ass.  an  accident 

The  Swine  to  swift  destruction  sent 

As  curious  herdsmen  went  to  meet 

The  Christ,  ere  trod  the  shore  his  feet. 

And  Bolton  said,  'twas  nothing  more 
Than  on  high  ridge  along  the  shore 
Where  Jesus  walked,,  not  on  the  sea 
In  its  wild  impetuosity. 

Ease  blandly  writes,  that  Peter's  mouth 
Was  opened  wide  that  he  may  shout 
He  had  a  fish  to  sell — from  whence 
When  sold  obtained  the  tribute  pence. 

And  Weisse  tells,  five  thousand  fed 
By  making  those  who  had  the  bread 
Give  freely  to  such  as  had  none — 
Free  giving,  miracle  alone. 

DeWitte,  Bertholdt  and  Kuinol,  say. 
Deception  marked  the  Glorious  Day 
Christ  was  Transfi'gured!    While  the  Three 
Apostles  slumbered  heavily, 

103 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

Two  men  connived  in  secret  tryst 
To  hold  communion  with  the  Christ, 
Their  talk  aroused  the  sleeping  men 
Who  waking  up,  with  drowsy  ken, 
Saw  the  men  disappear  in  mist — 
The  spot  where  Christ  stood  being  kist 
By  the  first  flash  of  dawning  light 
Seemed  as  a  glory  to  their  sight. 
While  the  reflecting  snow  but  made 
The  glistening  White  that  Christ  arrayed. 

While  Schmidt  claims,  Judas  pure  and  good, 
Ai^  honest  man,  misunderstood. 

Bretschneider  claims  John  unaware 
Of  the  Last  Supper,  was  not  there. 

And  Kaiser  says,  a  sudden  thought 
To  Jesus  came  when  on  the  cloth 
The  Jug  of  Wine,  the  Loaves  of  Bread, 
Ne'er  had  it  entered  in  his  head 
Till  then,  to  make  the  bread  and  wine 
Through  all  the  ages  as  his  sign. 

Thies  claims,  that  in  Gethsemane 
Christ  took  a  chill,  w^e  must  not  see 
Ought  else  in  his  blood  agony. 

Palus  explains,  Christ  had  a  friend 

In  the  Sanhedrim — so  his  end 

He  well  may  prophesy  indeed 

Before  they  dared  to  do  the  deed. 

The  servant's  ear  Christ  did  not  heal 

And  when  he  touched  it  'twas  to  feel 

The  extent  of  the  Scar,  and  tell 

What  course  of  treatment  would  make  well. 

104 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

And  Pilate  never  washed  his  hands 

Nor  called  Christ  just — and  that  the  strands 

Of  temple  veil  not  rent  in  twain. 

Nor  did  the  Jews  their  purpose  gain; 

For  Bahrdt  claims,  Christ  never  died! 
(So  then  the  twelve  Apostles  lied) 
On  cross — by  secret  potion  he 
Sank  senseless  in  his  agony, 
Seeming  indeed  to  gazer's  eye 
On  the  uplifted  cross  to  die — 
As  to  the  Earthquake,  risen  saints. 
The  such  imagination  paints. 

And  Schuster  claims,  it  was  the  smell 
Of  unguents  strong  that  broke  the  spell — 
And  fresh  air  of  the  cave,  insooth 
In  Christ  the  vital  power  of  youth 
Gave  him  the  strength  again  to  rise, 
And  not  an  Angel  from  the  skies. 

And  Palus  claims  for  many  years 
Christ  lived  upon  this  vale  of  tears, 
And  that  at  last  by  fever  pain 
Kind  death  released  his  stricken  brain. 

And  Steudel  fearlessly,  unawed. 
Claims  the  ascension  but  a  fraud — 
Christ  did  his  followers  delude! 
For  as  on  rising  height  he  stood. 
He  raised  on  tiptoe  as  to  bless, 
And  still  ascending  none  the  less 
He  upward  crept,  while  those  below 
Half  blinded  by  their  tears  of  woe 

105 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHRIST. 

Would  fain  the  parting  one  have  Kist; 

Then  suddenly  a  rising  mist 

Enveloped  him — with  sinking  knees 

He  hid  behind  the  Olive  trees 

That  grew  upon  the  mountain  height. 

And  so  he  vanished  from  their  sight. 

Two  secret  colleagues  now  crept  near. 

To  the  Disciples  did  appear. 

And  to  assuage  their  poignant  pain 

Told  them  Christ  would  come  back  again. 

Now,  what  is  left  of  Christ's  sweet  time? 
These  Croaking  Frogs  have  left  their  slinr 
On  every  Miracle  and  Thought 
By  which  our  Great  Salvation  Wrought. 

And  these  The  Fathers!     this  the  crew 

Whence  later  Hyper  Critics  drew 

Their  inspiration — virus   vile 

That  they  would  hand  us  with  a  smile 

For  our  acceptance,  not  so  bold 

In  blasphemy  as  word  of  old. 

But  just  as  deadly  to  the  soul 

Who  lifts  to  heart  their  deadly  bowl; 

Who  will  Satanic  draught  refuse 

They  sneer  at.  laugh  at,  and  abuse. 

What,  call  such  Brothers?    Nay,  indeed, 

Tho'  it  be  called  a  bigot's  deed. 

For  one  I  shall  not  bow  the  knee 

In  false,  vile,  bastard  charity! 

For  he  who  wishes  them  Godspeed 

Is  a  partaker  in  their  deed — 

For,  Lo!     these  Lepers  of  the  Race 

Have  spit  upon  The  Lord  Christ's  face. 


106 


THE  LARGER  HOPE, 


I  am  so  sick  of  hearing  Christian  mind 

Prating  their  shallow  nonsense — God  confin'd 

In  little  circles — e'en  Christ's  death  no  more 

Than  merit  to  waft  souls  to  Heavenly  shore — 

A  hazy,  mazy — spiritual  place 

Where  one  can  never  see  a  human  face 

Of  flesh  and  bone — but  something  like  a  haze 

Now  quivering  will-o'-wisp  before  the  gaze — 

Now  vanishing  a  vapor  to  the  sight — 

An  essence  in  a  whirl  of  delight 

Twanging  a  harp  before  a  golden  throne. 

Or  what  may  seem  to  be  such — aye,  insooth 

If  these  same  Christians  have  indeed  the  truth. 

They  lisp  as  Matter  something  very  base. 
As  if  it  were  indeed  a  vile  disgrace 
To  be  of  flesh — they  shudder  and  would  be 
*'Pure  spirit  free  from  flesh  Impurity  r 

When  THE  CREATOE  CHRIST — as  'twere  a  mesh 
Took  to  HIS  GODHEAD  the  encircling  flesh 
Married  the  Flesh  to  GOD — and  thus  shall  be 
The  GOD  MAN  through  the  vast  eternity! 

What  CHRIST  thus  blest  these  little  minds  despise 
Hold  flesh  contemptible  before  their  eyes; 
Such  Flesh  Despisers  must  then  surely  be 
More  wise  than  are  the  blessed  trinity/ 

(Grown  so  etheral  they  the  flesh  despise. 
It  is  unholy  in  their  dainty  eyes 

107 


THE  CdTY  OF  THE  ANTT-CHETST. 

And  only  fit  for  the  worms  and  the  grave, 
Christ  died  alone  their  little  souls  to  save. 
The  bodies  perish,  crumble  to  decay, 
Shall  never  know  a  Resurrection  Day; 
Christ  was  mistaken  or  misunderstood. 
Tho'  these  same  ones  indeed  love  dainty  food 
Pamper  the  body  with  rich  meat  and  wine. 
As  if  indeed  it  were  alone  divine. 
And  give  their  spirit  but  a  scanty  fare 
Of  Bible  reading,  or  of  earnest  prayer. 
The  Grossest  Liver  makes  the  loudest  wail; 

*'0h,  hut  to  shed  it — cast  it  off  and  be 
A  spirit  all  etheral  and  freer) 

But  where  such  heaven — 'twere  surely  hard  to  find 

And  only  lurks  in  the  Satanic  mind; 

The  Word  speaks  not  of  Heaven  in  such  sense — 

A  magic  mirror,  hung  in  grand  suspense. 

Where  all  are  shadows  moving  to  and  fro 

Like  fiashing  puppets  of  a  monkey  show. 

Out  on  such  Heaven — God's  Heaven  is  very  real 

Hath  a  location — we  shall  see  and  feel. 

Aye  more  substantial  than  all  earthly  things, 

For  when  He  comes,  the  Glorious  King  of  Kings, 

His  glorious  voice  shall  call  us  to  the  skies 

Lo,  then  each  Glorious  Body  shall  arise 

From  out  the  Grave — Body  and  Soul  shall  be 

United — Blest — and  live  Eternally. 

But  these  same  Dreamers,  a  choice  Company, 
They  are  the  Church — and  they  alone  shall  be 
The  very  nearest,  closest  to  The  Throne, 
A  little  company — and  they  alone 
Blessed  above  all  others — just  a  few — 

108 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  AN^TI-CHKIST. 

Of  all  the  many  millions  that  once  drew 
The  breath  of  Life  upon  this  groaning  Earth, 
(Some  sorrowfully  sad  e'en  from  their  birth) 
And  their  God  satisfied  at  such  a  thing! 

What  Satisfied!     Christ  the  Eternal  King, 
Creator  of  all  things  seen  and  unseen, 
Who  rolls  His  million  worlds  in  golden  sheen 
Of  light  and  splendor  flashing  from  His  face. 
Who  yet  with  Artist's  consummative  grace 
Wishes — a  fly,  a  bird,  a  wayside  flower — 
A  swinging  world — with  the  same  mystic  power. 
Who  condescends  to  shape  each  grain  of  sand 
With  all  an  artist  cunning  of  deft  hand 
Till  each  grain  is  perfection  in  each  shape; 
Who  wishes — and  a  Continent  and  Cape 
Runs  to  the  outline  He  would  have  them  be. 
And  flings  the  heaving  rushings  of  the  Sea 
O'er  heights  and  hollows,  covering  evermore 
Sea  caverns  where  wild  waters  rush  and  roar. 
Or  keep  a  silence  like  Eternal  night — 
Depths  where  ne'er  quivered  any  flash  of  light; 
The  Sea,  all  populous  with  moving  things 
From  pennywinkle — to  the  shark  that  springs 
Like  as  a  flash  upon   its  helpless   prey; 
Where  spouts  the  whales  like  children  in  glad  play; 
And  Earth  with  beast — and  bird,  and  midget  flies- 
Unseen   unless  glass   aided   human   eyes — 
Life!     Life!      Oh  such  a  prodigal   display 
Of  Life  on  any  hour  of  summer  day. 
That  one  o'erwhelmed  how  conceiving  mind 
Could  vary  every  atom — each  kind 
A  delicate  formation — such  as  none 
Could  shape — but  He  who  sits  upon  Life's  throne. 

109 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHBIST. 

And  such  an  One  they  bind  in  narrow  space! 

And  such  an  One — dare  circumscribe  His  Grace! 

And  say:     So  many  Years  and  then  the  Human  Race 

Shall  have  its  ending — General  Judgment  Day 

Shall  down  on  all — and  God  shall  wipe  away 

The  Human  Race  as  one  would  summer  flies; 

Then  the  old  world  shall  rock  along  the  skies 

A  blazing  world — That  God  once  said  was  "Good," 

Surely  as  Victor  then  Prince  Satan  stood, 

Had  he  not  marred  Jehovah's  Glorious  plan 

And  brought  to  his  allegiances  Sinful  Man, 

So  God  was  baffled  every  way  He  turned — 

Most  of  the  Human  Race  had  mercy  spurned. 

So,  as  if  tired,  and  weary  of  the  thing, 
Jehovah  Christ,  the  Great  Eternal  King, 
Took  off  His  few — and  in  revengeful  ire 
Kicked  the  cursed  World  a  blazing  mass  of  fire 
Through  His  Grand  Universe,  to  show  to  all 
The  Devil  was  triumphant  at  man's  fall 
And  so  continued  to  the  very  day 
The  World  to  gas  and  vapor  passed  away — 
Thus  in  the  smoke  and  whirl  of  winding  sheet 
Proclaiming  His  Disaster  and  Defeat! 

Lo,  in  our  hearts  the  Grand  and  Ancient  Hope, 
We  know  that  Christ's  Death  had  a  loftier  scope, 
That  Earth,  with  man,  shall  feel  Redemption  won 
As  on  the  Cross  hung  the  Eternal  Son! 
And  there  indeed  was  an  atonement  made 
For  things  we  dream  not — not  to  be  displayed 
Until  Eternal  Ages  shall  have  spread 
Their  grand  magnificence  upon  our  head. 
We  now  as  children,  but  the  letters  learn. 
But  in  the  coming  ages  shall  discern — 

110 


THE  OITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHEIST. 

Purblind  as  now — then  we  shall  surely  set 
The   Grand   Significance  of  Calvary! 

We  deem  there  is  no  ending  to  The  Race 
Till  every  star  that  glimmers  now  in  space 
Shall  populous — be  crowded  with  glad  men 
Without  a  fleck,  or  stain  of  any  sin. 

Where  Satan  conquered,  he  shall  know  defeat — 

Full  soon  The  Christ  shall  crush  him  'neath  His  feet! 

Shall  speak  a  word — Lo!  purified  the  Earth! 

A  house  of  plenty,  of  glad  peace — gay  mirth! 

And  then  as  earnest — to  the  entire  Race 

As  pledge — what  He  can  do  with  wondrous  grace. 

He  shall  make  Israel's  Nation  free  from  Sin, 

Eradicate  all  evil  from  v/ithin. 

All  pure  and  spotless — every  eye  shall  see 

What  God  shall  do  for  all  Humanity. 

Then  all  God's  Universe  shall  surely  see 

The  Consummation  of  the  Grand  Decree 

Now  a  dead  letter  on  Jehovah's  throne. 

But  then  shall  man  the  Glorious  Blessing  own. — 

"JBe  Fruitful — Multiply — Replenish  Earth," 

(With  Beings  holy  from  the  hour  of  Birth) 

"The  Earth  subdue  and  the  Dominion  hare 

O'er  fishes  in  the  sea— o'er  fowl  in  air 

O'er  everything  that  moveth  on  the  Land 

Lo,  all  are  Thine  to  own  and  to  Command" 


111 


CONFESSIONAL. 


To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee 

Can  this  poor  sinner  go. 
All  burdened  with  my  sin,  my  shame. 

My  sorrow,  and  my  woe? 
To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee 

V/ith  all  my  secret  sin. 
Ah,  none  but  Thee  would  open  arms 

To  take  this  sinner  in. 
To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee, 

No  mortal  ever  born 
Who  had  beheld  my  leperousy 

But  would  have  shrunk  in  scorn. 
To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee 

Can  I  my  sins  confess. 
For  surely  Mortal  love  would  shrink 

From  my  soul's  hideousness. 
To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee, 

I  need  not  tell  Thee  all. 
For  lo.  Thou  seest  every  stain 

As  at  Thy  feet  I  fall. 
To  v/hom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee, 

To  whisper  in  Thine  ear 
The  sense  of  sin,  of  wickedness 

No  earthly  one  may  hear. 
To  v/hom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee 

All  other  help  would  fail. 
For  I  am  but  a  paltry  soul 

When  Satan's  imps  assail. 
To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee, 

Thou  knowest  well  this  heart, 

112 


THE  OITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

Thou  knowest  my  besetting  sin 

Which  holds  with  luring  art. 
To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee, 

For  men  would  scorn  the  weak. 
The  mean,  the  worthless  thing  I  am, 

Should  I  my  failing  speak. 
To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thke, 

For  while  men  deem  I'm  clean 

0  Christ,  Thou  knowest  that  I  am 
As  foul  as  can  be  seen. 

To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee, 

Ah  me,  it  is  most  sweet 
To  know  I  can  in  secret  go 

And  fall  down  at  Thy  feet; 
Nor  speak  one  word,  nor  make  one  moan. 

Nor  lips  break  into  prayer, 
But  with  bowed  head  to  surely  know 

That  Thou,  O  Christ,  stands  near. 

1  have  no  need  to  tell  Thee  ought 
'Tis  all  before  Thine  eye 

Thou  knowest — Knowest,  O  Sweet  Christ, 

How  mean  a  thing  am  I. 
Standing  alone — there  face  to  face 

Silence  more  eloquent. 
Than  if  in  twice  ten  thousand  years 

My  cries  Thine  ear  had  rent. 
To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee 

In  all  Thy  Loveliness, 
Behold  the  tears  upon  Thy  feet 

My  rapturous  soul  now  kiss. 
To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee, 

For  me  Thy  Life  was  shed. 
And,  Lo,  Thy  Life  of  Righteousness, 

Was  poured  upon  my  head. 
To  whom,  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee, 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  ANTI-CHKIST. 

Thou  art  my  Substitute — 

Mine  every  sin  was  laid  on  Thee— 
Now  all  accusers  mute. 

To  whom.  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee, 
The  mediator  Thou, 

Thou  hast  put  my  hand  into  His, 
His  Kiss  is  on  my  hrow. 

To  whom,  O  Christ,  if  not  to  Thee, 
My  God,  my  Lord,  my  King, 

Be  Thou  supreme  in  every  thought- 
Let  me  Thy  praises  Sing. 


114 


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